Biohazard Z
by kittyluv2000
Summary: Set in the Zombie Apocalypse, a group of Survivors must survive the challenges ahead of them. A grumpy katana wielder, a determined orphan girl, a one-eyed redhead, and an albino with a personality disorder are all fighting for their lives against the rest of the world. Rated M for gore and swearing. No pairings, and I don't think there will be. May change.
1. The Zombie Virus

**Voila my newest story! Zompocalypse plus DGM equals-awesomeness! I borrowed (not stole) a couple ideas from other stories, but the idea and storyline are ALL MINE! However, DGM never will be. There's your disclaimer. Enjoy! I'll try not to make it too gory, but I can't promise anything.**

Biohazard Z

Chapter 1: The Zombie Virus

It was a simple virus. Not even functioning properly. The scientists who had created it figured that, even if it did begin to function, even if it did infect someone by accident, all it would do would be to make that person hungry until their body defeated it. How wrong they were. The first symptoms the man who caught it showed were irrationality, followed by depression, fatigue, and—as expected, hunger. Then, without warning, the man fell into a coma. The brain scans showed that his brain was shutting down piece by piece, save a few areas. Namely, the parts for hunger, movement, and smell. Other than those, higher brain function was completely eradicated. The man was declared clinically dead, having stopped breathing, moving, or thinking. All his body organs shut down. Then, two days after having shown the first symptoms, the man got up. He was breathing, although his lungs did not work, and his heart and other organs were not functioning. When a doctor, incredulous, came to see how in the world this man was active, the clinically dead _thing _began to _eat_ him. The doctor, named Dr. Pent, was found the next day by the janitor, dragging his top half towards the door of the room with his one arm. What had been Dr. Pent managed to bite the janitor, Miss Faer. She quit her job and went home, but soon infected others with this volatile new virus, after having sunk into a coma, died, and gotten up again. This was the beginning of the Zombie Apocalypse. The virus, transferred by a bite, injection or ingestion of an infected person's bodily fluids, was named Biohazard Z. The Zombie Virus.

_'__This virus attacks the brain via a nerve in the nose, which connects to the parts of the brain controlling hunger and movement. The rest of the brain and body is shut down, during a long coma __-__like stage, before the victim reawakens a Zombie, insatiably hungry and only capable of searching for, chasing and eating its food, human (or animal) flesh.' _

"There. I've finished." The red-haired teen leans back in his chair, putting down his pen and looking over what he had written. "Oi, Lavi. Why are you so focused on writing shit down when we're fighting for our lives against the rest of the freaking human population?" Lavi glances over at the annoyed samurai. "Well, if ever the human race bounces back from this, which is possible, they're gonna want to know what they recovered from so they can beat it easier next time." Kanda, the samurai, rolls his eyes and huffs angrily. Then he whips around and starts yelling at Lavi. "Snap _out_ of it, you retarded rabbit! There is no cure, no bouncing back! For all we know, this group of three we've got is the last remnants of the human race and we're fighting a losing battle! When are you going to see that there _is no way _to cure this?" Lavi stares down at his paper, toying nervously with the eye patch over his right eye. "I can hope, can't-" Kanda interrupts him. "No." Lavi frowns, and the girl who had been sitting in the corner up until now defends him. "Kanda, we all need some way to keep ourselves going. Mine is knowing this is what brother would want, Lavi's is hoping that there is a cure and everyone who's not too rotted can survive." Lavi sends a grateful smile her way. "Thanks, Lenalee," he murmurs softly. Kanda huffs again, seeming a bit more resigned now, and storms off to his bunk. Lenalee turns to Lavi and begins to address their most imminent problems (other than being the only survivors of the Zompocalypse). "Lavi, we're running out of food, water, and ammo. We need to change hideouts." Lavi runs a hand through his vibrantly orange hair and sighs. "Yeah, I know. But where'll we go?" Lenalee hums in thought, combing her boy-short green hair. "I dunno, Lavi, but we need to go soon." Kanda calls from the other room, "There's always the mental hospital. They evacuated that place before anyone got Infected." Lavi grimaces. "Yeah, but…that place is _creepy_, man. I mean, even the name gives me chills. _Mental hospital_. Blecch." Kanda rolls his eyes in the other room. "Wimp." Lavi starts. "Hey! That's just-" He is interrupted by a moan outside the window. All three freeze, hardly daring to breath. Lenalee and Lavi hear a thud on the window. They begin holding their breath. Kanda sneaks silently into the room. He waves to get Lavi's attention. "There's some at the other windows, too." He mouths. Lavi nods slowly. The three wait for a long while, only daring to move silently when they can't stand anymore. When they do move, they just sit down quietly to wait out the Zombies. After an hour, Lavi dares to slowly and carefully peek past the heavy curtain covering the nearest window. Dead, blank eyes stare back at him. Lavi quickly ducks back down, heart pounding in his chest. He takes large, quiet breaths to calm down, but his efforts are wasted when a louder, more insistent thud emanates from the window. The Zombies are more determined now, having seen Lavi. **_Thud. _**Kanda glares at Lavi, conveying his ire with a look. _'If looks could kill,' _Lavi thinks. _'I'd be dead a thousand times over.' _Lavi looks over at Lenalee, who is biting her lip and staring fixedly at the window. **_Thud. _**She meets Lavi's gaze. "We need to find a new hideout anyways," she mouths. Lavi nod, and glances at Kanda to see if Kanda got the message. Kanda is already up and heading to the other room, perfectly silent as usual. There is another thud, and this time another sound accompanies it. **_Crack! _** The Zombie hasn't broken through yet, but the thick glass has cracked from its inhuman strength. Lavi has just started to move when…**_Thud—CRASH! _** The window shatters.

**There ya go! Please comment! I promise I won't cliffhanger you for too long!**


	2. New Addition

**Here we are with Chapter 2! Phew! Thanks for reading and please comment!**

Chapter 2: New Addition

Shards of broken glass rain over Lavi, covering him with tiny, stinging cuts and powdering his hair. Lavi feels fingers grope at his hair, and he looks up in horror to see a Zombie attempting to get to him, half through the window. Lavi and Lenalee abandon all thoughts of stealth and race to the other room, where Kanda tosses them their backpacks. These backpacks are always packed with essentials and spare weapons. Lenalee loads her guns. They make loud **_k-chk _**sounds, and one of the Infected staggers into view. Lenalee dispatches it with one of her silenced pistols. More pour in, and the three friends retreat to the very back, where there is an escape hatch with a ladder leading to the roof. They climb quickly to evade the stupid walking cadavers, and run for the edge of the roof. Kanda leaps, landing in a roll on the next roof before rolling into a standing position and continuing to run. Lavi and Lenalee follow, Lavi rolling and Lenalee just running faster using her momentum. Her short jean shorts give her the freedom to do this, while the boys' jeans wouldn't be able to take the strain. Lenalee has also always been very good at running, jumping, and all things gymnastics. Kanda leads on, only just retaining his position at the front of the group. He takes a second on the next roof and looks back. A couple Zombies still seem to have a bit of brainpower, as they have managed to climb onto the roof. Kanda lets Lenalee and Lavi run past, and he goes back to dispatch them using his katana, named Mugen. It would suck to meet the smarter ones later on, perhaps in a stickier situation. Lavi, baseball bat tucked safely into his backpack, pauses for a second, but decides that he trusts Kanda enough to let him do that alone, and follows Lenalee down the row of roofs. Too soon for their liking, they come to the end of the line. The final roof happens to be the Mental Hospital roof. The two friends glance at each other, before waiting for Kanda. He soon joins them. Together, the trio enters the building cautiously through the roof access. Lavi locks the door behind them, and they go in single file, pressed against the wall. Kanda goes first, followed by Lenalee and then Lavi, who feels ready to piss his pants due to his dislike of this place. Luckily, they encounter a total of zero Infected, discovering why when they come to the closed and locked front doors. The windows are all intact, being covered on both sides by metal lattice. All of the doors in the facility are open, as the trio finds. All except for one. Lenalee positions herself to shoot whatever may be inside. And Lavi grabs the door handle. He twists and pushes, then leaps backwards all in one fluid movement. This operation has been practiced too many times to count. But when the door creaks open, they find a pristine white room, rather stereotypical for a mental hospital. However, there is a boy sitting in the corner, which makes them all nervous. Who knows whether or not this boy will suddenly up and gnaw their faces off? He looks pretty dead. Very pale skin, and skinny almost to the point of being skeletal, it doesn't even look like he's breathing. Stanger, he has white hair. "An albino…" Lavi mutters. He decides to take a risk, and prods the seemingly-dead body with a foot. He jumps away immediately, expecting an inhumanly strong hand to lock around his ankle. Instead, the boy simply keels over, sliding down the wall and landing in an awkward, twisted position on the floor. He is wearing a white nightgown-type thing, spattered with blood, scuffed with dirt, and torn in several places. He's also wearing white leggings. They realize that he is indeed breathing. "So, he's either sleeping, unconscious, or…" Lenalee trails off. They all know what she's thinking. Or, he's in an Infected coma, breathing only by reflex. Lenalee decides to check him for any bite marks. She finds none on his arms or legs, and is too polite to check his torso. She does discover one thing—whoever this boy is, he has a very strange scar on the left side of his face, and an even stranger left arm. The skin of the arm is bright red, and all crinkled. Curious, Lenalee leans in a bit. She can't look any closer, though, as she has to back up for the sake of caution when the teen begins to stir. He moans softly, and his eyes flutter open. He seems surprised for a moment at his position, then rights himself, brushes white hair from his silver eyes, and yawns. He notices the three figures towering over him, and stiffens, reaching behind him for something. Kanda points Mugen at the boy's face so that it hovers threateningly an inch from his nose, and the boy freezes again. He brings his hands up, showing that he isn't holding anything. "Who are you?" Kanda asks gruffly, suspicious even though this teen obviously isn't a Zombie. The boy just stares up at him with wide, terror-filled eyes. He's shaking bad, but trying to hide it. "C'mon. Talk," Kanda growls, jabbing the katana closer. The boy flinches and squeezes his eyes shut, still not making a single sound. Lenalee swallows thickly, and then points her gun at him, taking control of the situation. "If you will not talk, we will be forced to take drastic measures. We can't trust you unless we're completely sure you're not Infected." Lavi hovers his hand over her shoulder, uncertain. The boy looks at her, daring to open his eyes after Kanda has removed his katana. Suddenly, his eyes change. They go from young and innocent-looking to dangerous and experienced. Even the color changes, changing from silver to amber. "Shut up. It's pretty damn obvious that we're not Infected." The three comrades stare in shock at the sudden change in attitude. Only Lavi notices the specific words used. "Wait…we?" he asks curiously. The person glances at him and grins. There is a dark light in his eyes that makes Lavi flinch back. It's completely opposite from the bright, innocent look that had been in those eyes just a second ago. "Yeah, we. Me and the kid. You see, there are two of us in this body. I'm Neah. There's also Allen, who's a mute. You can try talking to him, but he can't talk back." Lenalee sighs in realization. "That's why he wasn't talking." Lavi nods. "But how're there two people in one body?" Neah rolls his eyes. "There's a reason we're in a mental hospital. I believe it's called Multiple Personality Disorder." Lavi nods knowingly. "Ah," he hums pensively. He looks at Neah again, but stops before he speaks. The boy's eyes are silver again, and he looks confused. Lenalee notices this, and bends down. "I'm sorry we were so hostile before, Allen. Your name _is _Allen, right?" Allen nods silently, being the mute personality. Lenalee glances at Kanda and Lavi, seeing Lavi's unease and Kanda's distaste, and then over at Allen. "Hey, Allen?" she asks tentatively. Allen looks her in the eye, childishly cocking his head to the side, showing that he's listening. Lenalee continues. "My friends and I are going out for a second to talk." Allen nods, looking down at his lap again and picking at the black skin of his left hand. Lenalee, Lavi and Kanda go outside, and Lenalee closes the door gently behind her. "What do you guys think? Should we adopt him into our group?" Lavi shrugs and starts to say something, but Kanda interrupts. "No."


	3. Multi-Faced

**And...I give you my third chapter! BTW, I decided to post all three today because otherwise I'll forget and I'll end up cliffhanging everyone for two weeks or something! I'm forgetful.**

Chapter 3: Multi-Faced

Lenalee's eyes snap over to him, a curious and accusing look in her eyes. Kanda elaborates. "Surviving is hard enough with three people. We don't need a childish nutcase, too." Lavi speaks before Lenalee has the chance. "He's not a nutcase, and there's only one childish personality." Kanda rolls his eyes. "Yeah, but then there's the other one. He looked a bit more unstable." Lenalee starts to speak, but Kanda stops her by holding up his hand. "I'm not done. We also don't know what other personalities he may have." Lavi grimaces and Lenalee rubs the back of her neck uncertainly. Then, she snaps her head up angrily. "Well then, we'll just have to see, right? We can't just leave him here. He'll be dead within a week." Kanda sighs. "Fine, but if he puts any of us in danger, he's out." With that, the trio enters the room again. This time when they enter, Allen is standing, staring out the window through the metal lattice. "Allen?" she asks, unsure who he'll be this time. It turns out to still be Allen. He turns to face them, silver eyes wide and curious. Lenalee tells him the news, and he smiles, sincerely. Lenalee smiles, too, Allen's happiness being contagious. Lavi thinks to himself that Allen's smile is really very nice. It's an innocent smile, which is odd in itself, as Lavi is assuming that, to have survived the Apocalypse, Allen must have killed a _few _Zombies, at least. Strange that he would still be so childish and untainted. While he was thinking, Lavi's stomach had begun to growl hungrily. Lavi realizes this and blushes slightly. "Sorry, guys. I'm starving. Aren't you?" Lenalee and Kanda nod. Allen starts to walk out the door, and then realizes that nobody's coming. He beckons for the three to follow him. They all glance at each other, unsure. Lavi shrugs and follows Allen. The kid doesn't seem like the type to throw anyone to the wolves. Or the Zombies, for that matter.

Allen leads them to a storage room. He pushes open the door, and the friends all stare, agape, at what's inside. All the shelves are stacked with non-perishables. "Where did you get all this?" Lavi mutters incredulously. So this is how the kid stayed holed up in this place for so long. Allen shoots him a small reproachful glare, and then shrugs. Lavi realizes that he just asked a mute person a question, and rubs the back of his neck guiltily. "Ah, sorry, Allen. I forgot for a sec that you can't talk." Then, he remembers his spare notebook, tucked deep in his backpack. "Oh!" he cries in realization, and races off to go grab it. Lenalee swears and runs after him, yelling, "Lavi! No splitting up, remember?" Left alone, Allen and Kanda stare at each other silently. Kanda breaks the silence by muttering, "Idiot." and rolling his eyes. Allen smiles softly, agreeing internally. Kanda walks into the storage room and chooses a meal for himself—Chef Boyardee pasta and canned peaches. "Are there any utensils here?" Allen stays silent, giving no sign as to whether or not he heard Kanda. "Hey, kid. Are there any freaking forks here?" When Allen still makes no move, Kanda gets angry. He grabs Allen's shoulder and spins him around. Allen bursts into motion. He spins, kicking out at the backs of Kanda's knees. Kanda's legs buckle, and Allen's hand snaps out, grabbing his collar. There is disdain and anger in Allen's eyes as he holds Kanda still, fist entangled in the fabric of Kanda's shirt. Kanda stares into the cold silver eyes in shock. "Wha…?" he murmurs softly. Allen grins evilly. "Give him a moment to _think_, will ya?" he growls. Kanda's eyes widen just a bit further. "Another personality?" he asks tentatively. "Yup." The new personality with cold, hard eyes drops Kanda's shirt and Kanda scrambles to his feet to regain some of his lost dignity. "Which one are you?" he asks, glaring at 'Allen'. The new personality grins again and announces his name. "Crown Clown. I'm the fighting personality. And there's one thing that I want to make crystal-clear. If you and your friends hurt Allen in any way, or leave him behind, you will get hell from me. That kid has seen a lot, just like all of you, and he's worse off for it. Allen is loyal as can be, he won't betray you. Ever. In fact, even having just met you, he'd already give his life to save any of yours. So you'd better watch what you do. Or you'll be dealing with _me_….and Neah, no doubt." With that, the cold look disappears and he's Allen again, looking bewildered. Then, he gets a look that says he just remembered something, and runs down the hall, in the opposite direction from whence they had come. Kanda takes a few steps after him, but decides to wait for Lenalee and Lavi. It wouldn't help anyone if he got lost chasing after this psycho.

After a bit, all three people return. Lenalee is holding a picture she'd found in Allen's room, and Lavi's holding a notebook and a pen. Allen comes running in holding three forks, bare feet making slapping noises on the dirty floor. He smiles, breathing heavily, and proffers the utensils to his newest friends. Kanda snatches one, Lavi pulls another from his fist with a small "Thanks," and Lenalee takes the last one, thanking him kindly. Then, the two get their own food and start scoffing it. The four all sit on the floor in a circle, three eating and one smiling contently and looking at the others one by one. When the others are done, Allen grabs their forks and runs off with them in the same direction as before. This time, Kanda follows, Lenalee and Lavi close behind. They find themselves in a messy kitchen. There is blood spattered on some of the surfaces, and all except the sink and the counter around it is dirty and covered in dust. Allen is running water over the forks, washing them as well as he can. Lenalee gasps when she sees the blood. "What…happened here?"


	4. Allen's Past

**Make that 4 chapters today. I just wanna get this over with, and then I can start typing up chapter 5! It might take awhile, as I really don't have it planned out...but I'll do it sometime! Disclaimer: I do not and will never own DGM. That belongs solely to Katsura Hoshino, the author.**

Chapter 4: Allen's Past

Lavi looks around, disgusted, forgetting all about the notebook and pen in his hand. Allen turns to look at Lenalee, showing that this is the answer to her question. Then, he starts acting. First, he does a pretty good impression of a Zombie, groaning and dragging his foot behind him, hands out clutching at air uncoordinatedly. He looks over at his new friends, sees their confused expressions, and then shrugs, closing his eyes. When they reopen, they're amber. Neah grins. "He gave up on acting it out. I'll just tell you. Makes for a better picture." Neah leans against the counter lazily, and then gets up again. "Let's go sit somewhere more comfortable. This is a bit of a long story."

The four are now sitting in a circle, on Allen's bed in his room. Neah shifts to get more comfortable and begins talking. "This place, as you well know, used to be a bustling mental hospital, full o' wackos and the people taking care of 'em. Allen was taken care of by a man named Mana Walker, but that's a different story." Kanda twitches, impatient and annoyed. "Get to the point, you idiot." Neah looks taken aback. "I am," he says, sounding hurt. "You guys just need a bit of back story. Now, there were a lot of patients who would have fits and pass out, sometimes not waking up for weeks. So when one kid did that, nobody was surprised. That is, until he died. The staff had no idea as to what to do, so they left him in his room and went off to consult someone else. When they came back, he was gone. The kid had wandered down towards the busiest place—the cafeteria. Overjoyed and thinking that the kid hadn't been dead after all, the staff approached him. He bit them." Lenalee and Lavi pale, knowing where this is going. Neah continues. "The staff, knowing now what had happened, ran towards the Zombie's target. They got there and warned everybody, bleeding, before collapsing. Allen was there, helping to wash dishes 'cause he's nice and all. When the Zombie came in, everybody had a bit of a freak-out. No one was trained for this. The Zombie went for the weakest ones, the little kids. Allen, being either an idiot or brave, decided to protect them. Crown Clown stabbed the Zombie with a kitchen knife." Lenalee starts. "Crown Clown?" she asks curiously. Kanda grimaces. "He's another personality. He's protective of Allen, and kind of violent. Actually, he's a bit of a-" Then he notices the look in Allen's now-silver eyes. A hard, cold look. "Bit of a what?" Crown Clown asks. "Nothing." Kanda says quickly, not eager to get beat up again. Crown Clown grins. "Okay. Well, I came to clarify, and add on the bit that Neah missed. I'm the reason Allen's still alive, 'cause I could care less about Zombies and don't mind killing 'em. After I killed the Zombie, I killed the Infected, too. No use having to kill them when they're up and at it, too. After that they stuck us in a sort of Solitary Confinement. Red—another personality—got us out. Red's a brat, but he's slippery. When they all evacuated this place we stayed behind. It's a good, solid place and all the doors can lock. Lots of food, too. Anyways. I'm done, so see ya." The haughty look disappears, and it's Allen again. He smiles innocently, and then gets a look of consternation. Obviously he wants to ask something, but doesn't know how. Lavi remembers the notebook still in his hand. He hands it to Allen. "Here, you can write down what you want to say in there." He hands Allen a pen, and Allen grins happily. He gives Lavi a big hug and immediately writes something down. He shows it to Lavi. **'****Thank you'** is written messily over the first sheet. Lavi smiles, too. "Just write a bit smaller, so you have more space for other stuff." Allen nods, and writes something else down. '**Any questions?**' Lenalee nods and holds up the picture frame in her hand. In it is a picture of a man in hospital scrubs, smiling happily. He has a bit of stubble, wavy black hair, and twinkling blue eyes. "Who's this? I found the photo in your room." Allen's eyes widen a bit, and then he smiles sadly. '**That's Mana. He took care of me.**' He writes before showing Lenalee. Lenalee nods her understanding. "What…happened to him?" she asks tentatively. Allen grimaces. The point of his pen hovers over the paper for a bit as he bites his lower lip. Then, he writes something haltingly. '**Mana was killed by a Zombie. He was one of the people who got bitten by the Infected patient that Crown Clown killed.**' Lenalee flinches when she sees that, and looks down at her lap. "Oh. I-I'm sorry, Allen." Allen shakes his head and waves his hands dismissively. '**It's okay. You didn't know.**' he writes, smiling encouragingly. Then, Lavi asks the question that's been itching at him ever since he first saw the albino. "Hey, Allen…what's with your arm?" Allen nods knowingly, seeming to say, 'I knew it.' He writes down his response quickly. '**Born with it**.' Lavi hums his acknowledgement. "I see. What happened to your parents?" Allen writes his response down quickly, smiling all the while. When he shows Lavi, Lavi wonders how he can be smiling. '**My parents abandoned me at an orphanage when they saw my arm and hair. The orphanage gave me to the mental hospital when they discovered that I had a disorder.**' Kanda, who has been silent the entire time, finally speaks up. "Why do you have a huge scar on your face?" Allen glances up at Kanda, surprised. Then, he writes: '**I got given that by a gang when I tried to run away from the hospital once. I didn't get too far, and a bunch of guys did that because they thought I was a freak and didn't deserve to be alive. I probably would've died if not for Mana.**' Allen shows Kanda, still smiling sadly. Kanda reads his response, and then stares incredulously at Allen. "How can you be so damn nonchalant?" he asks disbelievingly. Allen just shrugs.


	5. Emergency

**Here's my next chapter! I downloaded a ot of songs from the DGM soundtrack! I'm so happy! I have absolutely nothing going on this weekend, so I've been typing up my stories! Hope you enjoy the next chappie!**

Chapter 5: Emergency

After that, Allen refuses to answer any more questions. He resolutely shakes his head when Lavi tries to get more answers out of him. Finally, Lavi gives up, having lasted a good half-hour longer than the other two. Having given up, Lavi goes to join Lenalee and Kanda out in the hall, leaving Allen in his room. Kanda smirks when he sees Lavi slouch out. Lenalee can't help but laugh, but she congratulates Lavi on trying. Lavi mutters something unintelligible under his breath and stomps away down the hallway. Lenalee and Kanda follow. At first, Lenalee has reservations about leaving Allen alone, but when she goes back to check on him, Red makes it very clear that he wants to be alone. Lenalee returns to Lavi and Kanda looking rather perturbed. "Red…the other personality…is a _lot _more vulgar than Allen. And _he_ talks in Cockney, so couldn't even understand half of it!" Lavi grins. "Let me try." He starts towards Allen's room, but Lenalee grabs his arm. "I _really _don't recommend it. Red's pretty huffy right now. Or maybe that's just how he is…" Lenalee shrugs. Then, she pulls Lavi in the opposite direction. "Let's go look around this place some more! Maybe we'll find some cool stuff!" Lavi nods and jogs after her, not that he really has a choice, as her hand is still clamped firmly around his wrist. Kanda follows them, and the trio checks out the rest of the deserted facility. First, down that hall, they find many more rooms, all pristine white and generic. Occasionally, they find a personal object or two in a room, left behind accidentally or forgotten. One room sends Lenalee into tears. The room is all white just like the rest, but Lenalee finds a photo in the dresser. The photo is of a little girl, no more than six or seven years old, with her family. It's obvious by the background that the photo was taken in the very room they're standing in. the little girl is wearing the same outfit that Allen's in, and her parents each have a hand on her shoulder. All three people are smiling happily, genuine smiles. On the back of the photo is written, "We love you! Come home soon!" The message is signed Mom and Dad, with a heart. That alone makes Lenalee teary, but when she finds the scuffed-up, loved-looking Hello Kitty stuffy in the corner, she starts crying. "It's so _sad!"_ she wails while Lavi pats her on the back awkwardly, trying to comfort her a bit. She decides to keep the stuffy, putting it in her backpack and hoping that the little girl is okay, so she can return it. Kanda says nothing, but Lenalee can sense that he disapproves with this sentimentality. After this small breakdown, Lenalee leads the other two down the stairs, towards the main level with the kitchen. They skip that room, already knowing what they'll find there. Lavi does check to make sure the windows are secure, though. He does that in every room on the main floor, and checks all the doors to be sure they're properly locked, from the inside. He is gratified when he learns that all the doors open outwards, meaning that the stupid Zombies wouldn't be able to open them anyways. The next rooms the friends find are more important, the washrooms. They're set up sort of like public toilets, with stalls and different rooms for boys and girls, but they're a bit more comfortable. "After all, this _is _where all the patients _lived_." Lavi reasons after having peeked into the boys' washrooms. Upon seeing the washrooms, all three realize that they really have to go, and take a break from exploring to relieve themselves. When they're all out, they continue their self-guided tour. Lavi finds the laundry room by accident, going into a room they Lenalee thought was just another patient room. Throughout the entire tour so far, Kanda hasn't said a word, but he can't help a small cry of disgust when he finds moldering sheets in the washer. They smell terrible, and the three reach a consensus on what to do with them—leave them there. They exit the room, closing the door behind them. Lavi gags, and then collapses to the floor dramatically, pretending to have been poisoned by the horrible smell. "The…stench!" he chokes out as he clutches his throat and rolls around on the white tiles. Kanda raises an eyebrow. "Don't you know how _dirty_ a floor gets after a month without cleaning?" Lavi's eye widens in realization, and he immediately pops up from the floor and looks at himself. His once-white shirt is now all grey, and his jeans are, too. Lenalee starts laughing, and Lavi gags again, for real this time, and frantically brushes himself off. "Yuu, can you brush off my back for me?" he asks, using Kanda's first name. Kanda sends a withering glare at him. "Just because you called me that, no." Lavi is speechless. "Wha…Hey! I'm sorry! It just slipped out, okay? C'mon, Kanda! Please!" Kanda grins evilly. "No." Lenalee sighs, tiring of this behavior, and swipes the remaining filth off of Lavi's back. Lavi thanks her profusely and dramatically before glaring in a pouty way at Kanda. Kanda just rolls his eyes. Lenalee is just about to hit them both on the head to knock some sense into them when Allen races around the corner, looking panicked.

**I promise I won't cliffhanger you for too long! I already have the next chapter planned, and in fact I'm halfway through it! I'll post as soon as I'm done! Please comment, and tell me if any of my characters are being too out of character or anything like that! If I've made some mistakes or could improve something, please do tell me! Thanks!**


	6. Lala

**I changed chapters one and two because I realized that I could make them clearer and a bit more descriptive. Nothing big, just added in a couple words and changed one into a better sound effect. Anyways, here's the next chapter...but I think it ends in a cliffhanger, too! Oops. But I won't be long in posting the next chapter. Enjoy!**

Chapter 6: Lala

He grabs Lenalee's wrist and starts dragging her back the way he had come. Lenalee complies, seeing his distress and following. "Allen, what's wrong?" Allen doesn't reply in the slightest, continuing to pull her along behind him. Lenalee realizes where they're going when she sees the front doors of the facility. Allen points outside of the window, panting and flushed red with the effort of running all that way so fast. Lenalee peers out and gasps. Lavi and Kanda look, too, and Lavi swears. "Damn! What'll we do?" Outside, there is a horde of Zombies after a girl who is obviously still human. She is screaming and trying to get away, throwing rocks at the determined Infected. Lenalee answers Lavi's question by loading her pistols, throwing open the door, and shooting at the closest Infected to the girl. Allen reaches out and pulls her inside. Allen having done that, Lenalee slams the heavy metal doors shut and locks them again. The girl screams more and scrambles hastily away from the Survivors, terrified and thinking she's about to be eaten alive. She throws the rock in her hand frantically, and Allen clutches his head and falls over against the wall. Lenalee crouches down to help him, and Lavi tries to stop the girl from hurting anyone else. "Hey, hey, hey, we're not Zombies! We're Survivors! Quit freaking out!" After about five minutes, the girl finally calms down. She looks up at them with large, frightened blue eyes. Allen approaches slowly, smiling reassuringly and holding his hands out unthreateningly. He pulls out his notebook and pen, and then frowns as a drop of blood from his forehead falls onto the paper. Allen wipes the blood on his forehead away with his sleeve and writes on a dry section of paper. He shows it to the girl. **Are you okay?** The girl nods, and runs her fingers through her long, wavy blonde hair. She looks at her lap and then back up at Allen. "I'm sorry about that…" she murmurs apologetically, gesturing to the cut on Allen's head. Allen shakes his head. **It's okay. Don't worry about it. **He shows the notepad to her again, and she smiles slightly. "My name is Lala, what's yours?" she asks shyly in her musical voice. Allen writes his name on his notepad and shows Lala. Lenalee introduces herself, and Lavi follows suit. Kanda makes no move to speak, so Lavi introduces him, too. Allen is still sitting next to Lala, and she wipes away more blood from his cut with the back of her hand. Lavi notices that it's wrapped tightly in bloody cloth serving as bandages. "Can I take a look at your hand?" he asks, extending a hand. Lala nods, and Lavi unwraps the cloth. He has to look away for a second, feeling sick. Her fingertips are a bloody mess. "What the hell didja do to your hand?" Lala looks ashamed. "I fell off a wall and stopped myself by holding onto the wall. But I got away from the Zombies." Lavi grimaces. "Ouch. Damn." Then, he turns to Allen. "This is a hospital, right? Can you go find some bandages and painkillers? Bring some extra for you, too." Allen nods and sprints off, happy to be able to help. A couple minutes later, he returns with a bottle of small white pills, and a couple rolls of clean white bandages. Lavi takes them, and gives Lala a painkiller after double-checking the label. She swallows it, and Lavi waits a bit before bandaging her hand properly. Then, he bandages Allen's head. The painkiller affects Lala fast, and she soon becomes rather delirious. While Lavi, Lenalee and Kanda have a quiet but heated conversation about what to do, Allen catches Lala humming a song. **What are you singing, Lala? **Lala looks at the notepad and blushes slightly. "It's a song my mother taught me," Lala responds to his written question. "There're words, too." Allen smiles encouragingly. **Can you sing it for me? **Lala looks contemplative for a bit, and then nods, smiling as well. Then, she begins to sing a haunting melody, in a different language.

_"__Lacrimosa dies illa,  
Qua resurget ex favilla,  
Judicandus homo reus.  
Huic ergo parce, Deus:  
Pie Jesu Domine_

_Judicandus homo reus.  
Huic ergo parce, Deus:  
Pie Jesu Domine.__"_

When she finishes, all four other Survivors are staring at her, amazed. **You sing really nicely Lala, **writes Allen. Lala blushes more, and thanks him shyly. Then, she looks up and thanks all of them, but mostly Lenalee and Allen. "Thank you for saving me. I don't know how to thank you enough, because without you I'd be just another walking corpse." Lenalee smiles happily. "You're welcome, Lala. After that, all of them find a room to sleep in, and rest for the night.

The next morning, everyone is awoken by Lala screaming. She has wandered out into the hall, and is huddled against it, golden hair draped over her and hiding her face. Lavi is the first one to arrive, and he knows immediately by the way Lala is clutching her hand that it's the reason she's screaming. "It _hurts!"_ she shrieks. Lavi sends Lenalee to get the painkillers as fast as she can, and bundles up the blanket so Lala can bite down on it. Lavi gives her two painkillers this time, and Lala gets extra groggy. She soon falls asleep, still huddled against the wall. Allen picks her up piggy-back style. He seems surprised when he lifts her. Lenalee asks why he's so surprised, and then realizes his hands are a bit too full to write anything. She apologizes and says she can wait until Allen has put Lala down. Allen takes her to the nearest room with a bed, which is the room Lala claimed as hers, and puts her down gently. He fixes her position a bit before straightening and pulling out his notepad. He writes: **Lala barely weighs anything. I was surprised at how light she was. **Lenalee nods. "Yeah, she's pretty frail-looking. Well, I'm gonna go find Lavi and Kanda, I think you lost them. You stay here and keep an eye on her." Allen nods, plunking himself down next to the wall and getting comfortable. He gives Lenalee a thumbs-up and looks over at Lala, showing that he's on guard. Lenalee smiles and goes to find her other two friends. She closes the door gently behind herself and heads down the hall. She goes the wrong way at first, but soon realizes that she's coming to a dead end and turns around. As she passes the room, she peeks in, just for a second. Neither person within has moved a muscle. Smiling wider, Lenalee goes downstairs. She searches for a while, without success. Finally, she finds Lavi and Kanda getting food from the pantry. "There you guys are! I've been looking for you! Allen's keeping an eye on Lala." Lenalee decides that a snack is a good idea, due to the fact that it's nearing five o'clock. She grabs extra for Allen and Lala, if she wakes up. All three begin to go upstairs.

While Lenalee was searching, Allen had been listening to the soothing sound of Lala breathing. It was calm, and he was lulled into a sort of trance. So when the sound suddenly stops, Allen is jolted from his reverie. At first, he wonders what had happened to alert him, but then he realizes that, other than him, there isn't any sound in the room. Afraid now, he rushes to Lala's bedside. He listens for breathing, watches to see if her chest moves. Increasingly more worried, he feels for a pulse in her neck. There is nothing, not the smallest flutter. Allen panics slightly, looking around for something he could do. Suddenly, he sees movement out of the corner of his eye. Lala's hand twitches. Allen sighs, relieved. He must've felt the wrong spot. Allen's focus returns to Lala's face, at the same moment that Lala's eyes snap open. Lala's hand jerks again, clamping onto his upper arm as Lala twists towards him. Her other hand comes up, grabbing a handful of Allen's white hair. Allen staggers backwards, frightened again. _What's going on?_

**Yup.** **Cliffhanger. Sorry guys, but I'll post the next chapter soon! Promise! Pleeeease comment, and I can post sooner! Comments make me feel happy because they tell me that people are actually reading this! So please, whether it's to criticize me (please not too harshly) or say something encouraging, comment! Or message me! I feel lonely...)-:**


	7. Infected

**Ohmygod, guys! I am SO sorry for not posting in so long...I swear I'm an amnesiac sometimes. I totally forgot that the last chappie ended on a cliffhanger. To compensate, I shall hereby post all the chapters I have typed since my last update (and there are lots) so that maybe you won't be mad? Please?  
**

Chapter 7: Infected

Lenalee, Lavi, and Kanda hear the scream when they're at the bottom of the stairs. "Th-that was Allen!" Lenalee cries, before racing up the steps two at a time. Lavi and Kanda follow, albeit slower than Lenalee. The three terrified friends sprint towards Allen's room, dropping the food and forgetting about it. When Lavi and Kanda join Lenalee in the doorway, Lenalee immediately spins around and buries her face in Lavi's chest, covering her face with her hands and shaking uncontrollably. "Aw, crap, Allen…" Lavi mutters, horrified.

oOo

_ '__I can't breathe…Lala, what…' _Allen chokes, trying to form words. Not a sound escapes his throat no matter how hard he tries. His mouth forms words, and he tries to speak, but he can't. Slowly, Allen's vision fades, giving out to the waves of pain assaulting him. _'No…I can't…stop it…!' _The force that had been holding him upright disappears. All the strength leaves his body and he collapses to the floor, deep inky blackness smothering him.

oOo

Lavi and Kanda stare wide-eyed at the scene in front of them while Lenalee sobs into Lavi's chest. The white bedcovers are stained crimson, and Lala is halfway up in her bed. Her left hand is clutching Allen's snowy hair in a death grip, and her right is clamped around his left arm, so tightly that it's cutting off his circulation. Allen's eyes are wide, and blood trickles from the corner of his mouth, as well as flowing freely from his right shoulder, where Lala's teeth are sunk deeply into his flesh. "She…was Infected…" Lavi mutters in horror. Kanda is staring agape at the Zombie that used to be Lala latched onto Allen. A terrible choking sound from Allen snaps him from his trance. He whips out his katana and leaps towards the Zombie. The sharp blade whistles through the air, headed towards Lala's head. There is a sickeningly wet **_thwack_**, and the Zombie goes limp, hands releasing Allen and teeth disengaging from his neck. Allen's eyes roll back in his head and he collapses to the floor like a puppet with its strings cut. Kanda backs out of the room, Mugen almost falling from his trembling hand. He slams the door behind him. Lenalee has stopped crying, and she peeks through the pane of glass set in the door. 'Lala' is collapsed on the bed, head oozing brownish-black Zombie blood, called Zombie oil. Her large blue eyes are still open, glassy and dead. Lenalee steels herself before looking to Allen. Even having mentally prepared for it, Lenalee is still hard-pressed not to start crying again. Allen's white hair is stained red where it has fallen in the puddle of blood from the large open wound in his neck. His eyes are closed, and Lenalee can see that his breathing is very shallow, almost nonexistent. _'But wait…_' Lenalee gasps. "He's still alive!" Without warning, she rushes into the room and kneels next to the unconscious Allen, grabbing the bandages from Lavi's hand as she goes. She carefully wraps up the wound, firmly but not too tightly. Lavi approaches carefully, and kneels down next to Lenalee. "Lenalee…he's been bitten. He's just going to become a Zombie. There's no use bandaging him up."

Lenalee finds that she's crying again, silently this time. She looks up at Lavi, tears still rolling down her face. "But he's still alive…what if he's in pain? I just…at least until the coma happens…" Lavi sighs. "Fine, whatever. If it'll make you feel better. Just be aware that…when he does fall into the coma, we _are_ going to have to kill him. We can't leave an Infected in here." Lenalee nods, before gently moving Allen into a sort of slumped sitting position against the wall. The bandages on his neck are already covered in blood. Lenalee changes them, and the bleeding gradually stops. Allen's breathing gets shallower, until it's undetectable. Lenalee's eyes widen at this point, thinking Allen's dead now, but then his breathing starts again. Lavi jumps to his feet and pulls her away. "But he's breathing still!" Lenalee protests. "Yeah, well, Zombies breathe out of habit, so there's no saying whether he's a Zombie now or not." The full truth hits Lenalee like a sledgehammer, and she becomes completely compliant, following Lavi out with her eyes glued on the floor. Kanda glances at Lavi. "I'm guessing I'll have to." He states in an annoyed tone. Lavi grimaces. "Yeah, well, I have to keep Lenalee from running off and I doubt _she's_ gonna shoot him." Kanda rolls his eyes. "Great," He grabs one of Lenalee's pistols and loads it. **_K-chk. _**He takes a couple steps into the room and raises the gun so it's pointed directly at Allen's forehead. Allen's eyes crack open, and he moans slightly. Lenalee gasps, hearing the sound. The blank, glassy eyes open more, and shift upwards towards Kanda. Kanda takes a deep breath, and his finger tightens on the trigger. But before he pulls it, something stops him. The silver eyes widen, and fill with fear.


	8. Immune

Chapter 8: Immune

"What the hell?" Kanda cries, lowering the pistol. A red-skinned arm snaps up to cover Allen's face, and Kanda reacts by raising the pistol. Lenalee springs forwards and bats the gun from Kanda's hand. "Stop!" she yells desperately. "He's not a Zombie!"

oOo

"What the hell, Lenalee?!" Kanda hisses, yanking her out of the room and closing the door. "He was bitten! _Obviously _he's Infected!" Tears gather in the corners of Lenalee's eyes. "You saw that! He reacted! Zombies don't feel emotions, so he can't be a Zombie!" Kanda grits his teeth angrily. "Lenalee." Lenalee stops yelling, tears hovering just on the edge of falling. Kanda continues. "It was nothing. Just a trick of the light. You thought you saw it because you want to believe that there's still an Allen in there." Lenalee's eyes widen, and the tears fall. "But…you saw it, too…didn't you?" Lavi interrupts their conversation before Kanda can say anything. "Uh, guys, you might want to look at this." He moves away from the glass pane in the door to let Lenalee and Kanda look into the room. Inside, 'Allen' is moving. The red-skinned left hand feels the bandages on his shoulder and tightens into a claw. 'He' begins to rip at them, but stops. The hand goes back down and reaches for something not visible from the vantage point Kanda and Lenalee have. When 'Allen' straightens again, 'he' is holding the gun. Lenalee turns to Kanda. Kanda's eyes are focused intently on the scene inside the room. Lenalee turns her attention back, and gasps. 'Allen' is holding the gun, staring at it almost contemplatively. His free hand moves to touch the bandages, before ripping them off. The dull silver eyes stare at the bite wound before flicking back to the gun. Then, they rise to stare directly at Lenalee and Kanda. The gun's muzzle rises up, to point at Allen's head. A small, almost apologetic smile forms on Allen's lips, and Lenalee can't take it anymore. She throws open the door, and pulls the gun from his hand. "I don't believe you!" she yells at Kanda. "I won't!" 'Allen' looks surprised, and Lenalee gives him his notebook and pen. "Please…" she murmurs brokenly. "If there's still an Allen in there, write something to show me." The pen hovers over the paper before scribbling something. Kanda and Lavi look on in shock and amazement when the notepad rises to show Lenalee. Lenalee reads what's there, and then begins crying and laughing at the same time. Written on the page in Allen's messy writing is: **I'm glad someone kept an eye on Lala. Turns out she wasn't sleeping. **

oOo

Lavi runs into the room, too. He looks at the notepad, and then rolls his eyes. "You're trying to be funny, huh? Jesus, Allen." Allen looks confused. "Lavi," Lenalee whispers to the redhead. She smiles a disbelieving smile. "Lavi, he's not trying to be funny. He means it." Lavi face palms. "That's even worse. Oi, beansprout?" Allen snaps his eyes from his neck to Lavi's emerald eye. He has a questioning look on. Lavi clears his throat self-consciously before continuing. "How…are you not a Zombie right now?" Allen frowns. He looks at his lap for a bit before writing something. He doesn't make a move to show Lavi, though, so Lavi has to lean over and read upside-down. Written on the notepad is: **Maybe I'm immune. **Lavi's eyes widen. He sits back. "Y'know, Allen, I think you may be on to something." He turns to Kanda, who is now leaning against the doorframe with a consternated look. "Hey, Kanda…d'you think Allen might be immune?" There is a long, uncomfortable silence, where everyone is staring. Kanda is staring at the floor; Lavi is staring at Kanda, Allen at Lavi, and Lenalee at Allen. Kanda breaks the silence. "It's possible, I guess. Not that being immune will do much for you if you bleed out." With that, his eyes flick over to Allen. Allen meets his gaze, before looking back at his shoulder. His mouth opens in an 'O' of surprise at what he sees. The bandages being off, he has a very clear view of his wound, which has reopened. Lenalee squeaks in surprise, as she hadn't noticed, either. Allen touches the crimson fluid, so bright against his pale skin. Then, he moans a little and faints from blood loss. That snaps everyone from the sort of stupor they had been in since Allen had returned from the brink. Lenalee catches the slumping boy, while Lavi dives to grab the bandages. "Crap!" he mutters. He goes to grab one of the blankets off the bed, hesitates when he sees the corpse still lying there, but then whips the blanket out from under it. The heavy body flops onto the floor on the opposite side of the bed, and Lavi shivers at the sound. "Yuck." Then, he applies pressure to Allen's wound with the white cloth to slow the bleeding. Lenalee frowns. "He's already lost so much blood," she murmurs, worried. Lavi reassures her that Allen will be fine, as long as he doesn't reopen the wound. Lenalee nods, at ease. Allen's alive. He's really, truly alive.

oOo

The three relieved Survivors manage to get Allen into a different room, and too tired to bother, leave Lala's body in the crimson-spattered room. They close the door and collapse on their own beds, exhausted from the day's events. Lavi, who had volunteered to watch over a comatose-seeming Allen, is awoken by a gentle tug on his sleeve. His head snaps up, immediately wary of danger, but he soon realizes it's just Allen. "Oh, Allen. You're awake. Man, I got worried there!" Allen smiles apologetically. He points to the hall. "What?" Lavi asks, confused. Allen frowns. He points again, putting more emphasis into the action. "You want me to check the hall?" Lavi asks experimentally. Allen shrugs. Then, he gets a really mad look, pretending to be Kanda. He then pretends to be Lenalee. Lavi nods, understanding. "Oh, I see. Okay, I'll go check on them. You be good; don't move about too much." Allen nods and settles back down onto his bed contentedly.

A few minutes later, Lavi returns, slipping through the gap between the door and the frame silently. Allen looks at him expectantly, silver eyes innocently wide. Lavi sighs. "I was hoping you'd be asleep, but yeah, they're fine. Why did you want me to check on them so much?" Allen shrugs. 'Just a hunch,' he mouths silently. Lavi nods tiredly and settles into his chair. Allen sighs softly, and is soon asleep.

The next day, Lavi joins Lenalee and Kanda in the kitchen. Allen is still sleeping, looking somehow too peaceful for having just been bitten by a zombie. Lenalee, wearing rubber gloves she'd found and sporting an apron, is cleaning the kitchen. She grimaces as she gingerly scrubs at the dried blood splashes everywhere. She's been working for a couple hours already, and the smell of vinegar and bleach is everywhere. Around half of the kitchen is already spotless, showing how much Lenalee has been cleaning. Kanda is trying to help…sort of. He is standing by one counter, looking unsure as to what to do. He's wearing the same getup as Lenalee, an apron and bright yellow rubber gloves. As Lavi watches, amused, Kanda watches what Lenalee is doing and tries to copy her. Lavi steps in after watching Kanda's half-hearted attempts. "Hey guys. Doing some spring cleaning?" Lenalee rolls her eyes and turns to him. "Nice," she says sarcastically. She then continues. "I figured we'll be staying here for a while. I mean, why not? Lots of food, safety, places to sleep. So, I'm cleaning up here. There's a lot of food in that pantry that needs to be prepared to be edible. I can cook if the kitchen's clean."

Lavi nods. "Do you have any other gloves or aprons?" Lenalee shakes her head, but Kanda nods. "Take mine. I can't do this." He yanks off his gloves and apron and shoves them at Lavi. Lavi takes them, bemused. He puts them on and starts helping Lenalee as Kanda storms out. After a bit, the two both take a break. They leave their gloves and aprons on a clean counter and walk out calmly. Lavi goes in front; takes the route he now knows leads to the pantry. When the two Survivors reach the closet, Kanda is already there. He is sitting against the doors, holding a little green box. When his two comrades approach, he holds it up slightly, grinning. "Green tea," he says simply. Lenalee smiles happily. "Yay! I know you like tea. It's great that you found that. I'm sure we can find a way to heat up some water and make some." Kanda nods, and starts to say something, but is interrupted by a loud thump from the direction of the stairs. "Allen?" Lavi asks, going to look up the stairs. Nothing. Frowning, he returns to Lenalee and Kanda. He shrugs, and that's all the answer they need. Kanda stands, his hand straying to the hilt of his katana. Lenalee sneaks behind Lavi, shivering. All three are tense and ready to fight, this offensive reaction ingrained into them by living in the Apocalypse. Lavi bites his lip, wishing he hadn't gotten so lax and left his bat upstairs. Lenalee, seeing his discomfort, steps in front of him and pats her pocket where her pistol is. Then, all three jump as a figure steps into the doorway of the stairs. Allen tips his head to the side, looking confused. The three relax, Lavi chuckling in relief. "Neh, Allen, you scared us." Allen looks guilty, smiling apologetically. He starts to rub the back of his neck, then stops, flinching. He walks towards his three new companions, looking very pale indeed in the fluorescent lights. Allen stops in front of them. His eyes close for a bit longer than normal, and reopen as Neah's eyes.

"Hey." Lavi nods hello and Lenalee chirps a happy, but shaken, greeting. Neah feels the bandages at his neck. "Idiot…" he mutters, and then focuses on the three in front of him. "Allen wants to tell you that the generators aren't going to last long. We've stocked up on candles and matches best we can, but those won't last very long. You might want to find someplace else." Lenalee frowns, noticing the 'you' instead of 'we'. "What about you?" Neah grimaces. "Allen…doesn't feel comfortable leaving. Besides, we'd only slow you down." Lavi growls angrily. "No way! I'm not buying it! If we're gonna go, you're coming, too!" Neah shakes his head, and then Allen is back. He looks annoyed, silver eyes accusing and guilty. He turns away and walks towards the stairs. But he pauses before he gets there, cocking his head curiously. Kanda, who had walked halfway up the stairs absent-mindedly, stares back down at him with a slight distaste in his gaze. Allen takes a step up the stairs, and then lightly skips back down. He moves out of Kanda's way, and Kanda walks down the stairs, leaning next to the door insolently. Allen is stopped by Lenalee, and she and Lavi try to convince him to come with them. Just then, all the lights flicker. There is a loud clunk, a whirr, and the lights go out completely. Lenalee shrieks, Lavi mutters something about the generator, and Allen immediately looks around to the stairs for some reason. There is a long silence afterwards, where the four shuffle about, trying to find the doors to the kitchen as well as each other. Then, there is a scream. "KANDA!" Kanda, taken by surprise, whips around and leaps away from where he had been standing, just in time. The Zombie that had been Lala gurgles horrifyingly and grasps at him. Kanda swears and whips out Mugen. He slices off the thing's head, and the body collapses. The head, however, keeps opening and closing its jaw with a loud clacking sound. Lenalee whips out her gun and shoots the head in the half-light streaming from the windows. The movement stops immediately. Kanda grimaces, muttering, "Thanks." Lenalee nods. "Who yelled your name? It wasn't me." Kanda looks to Lavi, who shakes his head, looking confused. All three look at the only person left in the room. Allen looks absolutely shocked. "I…I did," he says in a dry, unused, raspy voice.

Lenalee's face breaks into a huge grin. "Allen! You talked!" Allen smiles widely, too, overjoyed. "I can talk," he rasps. Then, the lights flicker slightly before going out again. Allen glances to the pantry doors. "You should pack up all the food and supplies you can. If you guys can get out of the city, the wild is likely still free of Zombies, and there are lots of supplies and resources there." Lenalee shakes her head as Lavi and Kanda start searching for bags to put food in. "Allen, we're not leaving without you. Either you come with us to a safe place, or we stay here." She is obstinate, obviously not going to budge. Allen sighs. He tries for quite a few minutes to convince her to let him stay, but soon Lavi joins in and he relents. "Fine, fine! I'll come!" Lenalee beams. "Good!" She hands him a bag, and gestures to the pantry. Allen slowly packs his bag. Just before it's full, he races upstairs. When he returns, there is a small rectangular shape visible pressed against the inside of the bag. All of the Survivors are ready in about an hour, and they set out to the edge of the city. They try to take the roof exit, but the door won't budge, being swollen shut in the high temperature. So they are forced to take to the streets.

oOo

For the first hour or so, no Zombies are encountered. This admittedly creeps out the more experienced Survivors, as usually when there are no Zombies at all, you come across a horde. Soon, this theory is proven. The four turn one nondescript corner and immediately scramble to get back behind the corner. There is a huge crowd of milling undead blocking the road. "What do we _do?" _Kanda hisses. Lenalee shrugs and Lavi points up. Kanda looks less than amused, and almost silently whispers his sarcastic question. "So how do we get _up _there?" Lavi looks abashed, shrugging. Allen taps Kanda on the shoulder, and gestures to the dilapidated building on the other side of the alley where they're standing. The bricks are crumbling and old, and Allen demonstrates how it's possible to pry out chunks of brick and mortar to create hand-and-footholds. He quickly clambers up two meters of wall. He then gestures to his comrades to follow. They oblige, glad to get away from the huge mob. After a slow and arduous climb, they all arrive on the roof. Proving to be great at running and jumping, Allen keeps up with his comrades easily on the rooftops. The going seems good, and they all make great progress. Then, the buildings stop. Lavi groans. "Déjà vu, right?" he mutters as he glances at a rooftop door. They're on the roof of a small mall that had been fairly nameless, uncelebrated. That is, until the Apocalypse. Then, it had become quite eminent, a refuge for people fleeing from undead loved ones, friends, strangers. When one single person had become infected, no one had noticed. When the infection had spread, it had soon encompassed all of the population of the shopping centre. The roof entrance gapes like an open mouth, door wide open. "How many Infected do you think are in there?" Lenalee murmurs softly. "No way to find out except…" Lavi trails off. Allen runs up to the door and shakes his head, blocking it with his body. He whispers, "There's a ladder," he says quietly, pointing to two metal bars curved up over the edge of the roof. "We don't have to go through the mall," he continues. Kanda nods. "Sure. That's better than chancing a horde." Lenalee and Lavi follow him as he climbs down the ladder. All four step one by one onto the hard, cracked pavement below. They steal silently around the corner and peek at the front of the mall. Authorities had completely blocked off and locked up the front of the mall against the flood of diseased humans. Behind the glass doors, the Survivors can see splatters of blood and claw marks on the glass. Urgent and frantic, the friends race in front of the mall. As soon as they come into view of the glass door, there is a loud thump. A face presses against the door, empty eye sockets gaping and toothless mouth gnawing at the smooth surface. More thuds. More faces. A crack in the glass, splitting the expanse jaggedly. All the Survivors scrabble frantically to get past the mall. Lenalee, Lavi, and Kanda make it, but Allen trips, twisting his ankle. The glass doors crack further, and shatter.


	9. Separated

Chapter 9: Separated

His friends start towards him, but then the horde spills in a torrent from the mall. Allen screams at his comrades to _run, _and they oblige, albeit very reluctantly, especially on the part of Lenalee. The Survivors, save Allen, race to escape the swarm. But no matter how far they go, they know that the Zombies will chase them. So, they search for a defendable spot. Lenalee loads her belt with full cartridges; Lavi tests his swing over and over with his bat. Kanda slowly pulls out his katana, the movement accompanied by a long metallic hiss. Lavi takes his usual spot behind his friends as they ready to fight in this narrow alleyway. The spot is perfect, only wide enough for one or two people side-by-side at a time. The comrades wait for the first of the horde to arrive, or for any sound, any clue at all besides their own beating hearts and breathing to tell them what's happening. They all flinch when they hear one piercing, agonized yell, cut short abruptly by…probably by Zombies. Lenalee starts crying, tears streaming silently down her pale cheeks. Then, the Zombies start to converge on them. All three steady their breathing and heartbeats and defend themselves. Lenalee fires shot after shot, Kanda slices and stabs, and Lavi swings his bat, crushing and smashing. More and more Zombies shamble towards them, the occasional one running, lurching at a terrifying speed. These, Lenalee dispatches with ease. After what seems an eternity, the flow of Infected slows, than stops. The three tired and gore-splattered Survivors stagger from the tight alleyway, disposing of whatever unfortunate shambling corpses remain. Lenalee makes a beeline towards where she knows Allen had fallen, hoping to find something at the same time as hoping not to. She finds nothing but splattered blood, dismembered rotten body parts and a crowbar. Lenalee gingerly picks up the crowbar, staring at it with part horror, part grief, and a blank, glassy gaze. Lavi places his hand on her shoulder gently, not saying anything. He walks with her back to Kanda, and the three finish their trek to the old cabin a few kilometers outside of the city. They unpack their bags, stock the shelves, and then sit on their bedding in silence. Lenalee starts crying again, shoulders shaking as she thinks of the comrade she had lost that day. Lavi moves to sit next to her. He says nothing, comforting her just by being close. Kanda mutely cleans his katana, staring blankly at the blade. After a few hours of complete silence, they all drift off to sleep.

oOo

_'__It's…so…bright. Ow…my eyes…' _Slowly, vague forms come into view. First silhouettes, then more clearly defined figures. A cracked dingy-gray ceiling, a man leaning over me. Do I…recognize him? Yes…but from where? He speaks. "Hmph. Funny meeting you again, _freak_." Oh. That's where. I open my mouth to speak, change my mind. I stare levelly at him, and he smirks. "Still mute? Liar. I heard you earlier, remember, idiot?." I grimace. "What do you want?" I ask, and he grins wider. "To finish the job I started." I take a deep breath, forcing down the panic welling up. I try to sit up, but am stopped by thin, strong bands keeping me stuck to the pole I'm sitting against. Zip ties. The man, who I am now certain I know from the incident where I got the scar over my face, chuckles. "Before I start, I've got some questions. Where did your 'friends' get all those supplies?" he says 'friends' sarcastically, not believing I have actually managed to find companions. I stare at him wordlessly, blankly, not making a peep. I'm not going to help him. Ever. Especially not to the detriment to my new friends. He growls. "Giving me the silent, huh? Not. Smart." I set my jaw obstinately, glaring at him. He slaps me across the face, and I slump to the side, being held up only by the thin plastic bonds around my wrists and the pole. I sit back up with an effort. Closing my eyes for a long moment, I gather up all the pride I can muster in this situation, lift my chin, and stare icily at my captor. He smirks. "Alright, then. Let's see how long it takes to pry the answer outta you. I'm gonna have fun here."

oOo

Lenalee snaps awake, eyes immediately searching for her friends in a reaction ingrained into her brain. One form is missing. She jolts up, remembers yesterday, and settles back down, cheeks freshly wet. She stares at the ceiling, biting her lip. She jumps and her heart pounds when a long metallic _**shing**_ resounds in her ears. She yelps and looks over to where it had come from. Kanda smiles slightly, guiltily, and holds up his katana and the sharpener he'd been using. Lenalee rolls her eyes and gets up, knowing she'll never get back to sleep now. Kanda and Lenalee have a whispered conversation, continuing until dawn breaks. Over the course of their conversation, a slow creeping fear and foreboding steals over Lenalee. Finally, she feels as if she'll puke. "Ugh…I feel sick…" she moans softly, and Kanda frowns. "Are you okay?" Lenalee covers her mouth. "I just…don't feel so good all of a sudden." She excuses herself and goes to lie down, figuring she'd just take a nap. She dozes off gradually, eyes slipping closed. Her dreams are more like nightmares, consisting of screaming, blood, and dark looming figures. After a fitful sleep, she's not sure her nap helped at all.

oOo

_**Snap**__! _Allen grits his teeth, managing to keep from screaming. He does groan, blood trickling from where his teeth have punctured his bottom lip once again. His captor grins and laughs evilly. He stands and kicks the hand he has just broken. Allen's back arches and he shrieks in agony before he can stop himself. The man towering over him snickers. He nudges Allen's hand again. Allen curls into a ball on the grimy floor and clutches at his fingers, trying to lessen the pain from his broken fingers. It doesn't work. The man who had kidnapped Allen frowns. "Now. Will you tell me where you and your friends got all that stuff?" Allen gasps for air, chokes on the pain from his hand, and then utters his denial, glaring venomously at the man. "_Never!" _he hisses furiously. The man _**tsk**_s in distaste, and shakes his head. "What a shame. Well, then. I guess we'll just keep going, shall we?"

oOo

Lenalee gasps, suddenly feeling bleak and frigid. A fear-induced shiver scampers up her spine. Her head whips around, her wide eyes searching for some obscure object…or person. When she finds nothing, she looks back at the clothes she's washing in the stream next to the cabin. Lenalee's heart pounds, racing because she's felt this type of premonition before. She's felt it before a horde of Zombies flooded their hiding place. She's felt it just before she ran out of ammo in a fight. She's felt it before…before she got the news that her only family left, her older brother, was dead. Lenalee's hand strays to the grip of her gun. But no Infected appear. No heart-stopping groans sound. Instead, a shiny new CD in a clear case clatters to the ground next to her, obviously thrown by someone. Lenalee's head snaps up, her hand clutching at the case to keep it from creating any more sound. There is not a single moving thing in sight, not a shadow or a form that resembled anything human. Stomach twisting with foreboding, Lenalee leaves the clothes in the cold soapy water and slowly backs into the cabin. She closes and locks the door, barring it with a chair just in case. The noise of the door being forced would at least provide some warning. The CD case is pulled from her hand by a familiar redhead.

"What's going on? Where did you get this? Are you okay?" Lenalee looks shakily over at Lavi. "Y-Yeah, I'm fine. I don't really know what's happening, but…I think someone threw that at me." She gestures to the case in Lavi's hand. Lavi frowns. "Hey, I found a DVD player. It's pretty old, and I dunno if there's still battery power, but…it's worth a try, right?" Lenalee nods. "Why not." The two find the old player and place the CD in the slot. Kanda joins them just as the machine starts up, the soft whir of the spinning disc being the dominant sound. After a few interminable moments, the screen lights up and the video starts. At first, it's just a recording, a black screen and a gruff, slightly annoyed voice. _"I do hope this arrived safely," _the voice greets cordially. Then, it continues. _"You are, I believe, the friends of a certain white-haired teen? Of course, if you're listening to this." _The three glance at each other in distress, confused and frightened. After a pause, the man's voice continues. _"I saw how well-furnished you are with food and supplies, and I would like to know where you got them. Sadly, your friend won't tell me." _Lenalee gasps, being the first to understand the implications. On the small screen before them, the darkness lightens as the hand that had been covering the recording camera is removed. The scene shown is horrifying, even to the gore-accustomed Survivors.

Lying on the floor, curled in on himself, is Allen. He is breathing hard, the sound audible even through the bad microphone. The voice calls him in a sing-song tone. _"Allen,_ _say hello to your friends," _Allen shifts. "Fuck you," he groans in a strained voice, tight with pain. The camera is set down on the floor, and a pair of worn sneakers walks over to Allen's grungy form. One sneakered foot kicks him, hard, in the ribs, and Allen yelps. The foot then turns him over roughly. Lenalee hiccups in fear and covers her face with her hands. Allen's face is smeared with blood, dried as well as fresh. He is clutching at his right hand, expression twisted in agony. One eye is swollen shut, and his bottom lip is bloody. His teeth are still clamped down on his lip, and he is covered in bruises. The voice from before speaks again. _"Come on, be nice. If you won't say hello, then why don't you say goodbye?" _Allen looks disturbingly blank, and he mutters, "Bye, then." The sneakered feet appear again from the side, and hands clamp around Allen's upper arms. The person drags Allen out of the range of the camera's view, and there is a loud **_crack_**. Allen shrieks, and then a hand turns the camera. One of Allen's legs is broken, and he is laying in front of an open door leading onto an empty alley. The person recording drags Allen outside, leaving him there. They close the door and pick up the camera. Turning it so it looks at the concrete wall, they leave it on just long enough to pick up the chilling sound of a Zombie's groan, the sound they make upon sensing prey. Then, the recording ends.

Lenalee jams her finger onto the power button and sobs. "Allen…" she moans, distraught. Lavi tries to comfort her, while Kanda stares blankly at the screen. "What the hell…" he murmurs, shocked. Then, white-hot rage overcomes him. He swears loudly, startling his friends. "Murderer! He's a fucking _murderer! _He _killed _him!" Kanda leaps to his feet, hand clenched around the hilt of his katana. White-knuckled and shaking, he storms to the door, throws it open, and stalks out. Lenalee cries out, and Lavi springs up to stop him. One hand gripping Kanda's wrist, Lavi yells angrily, "What the hell are you doing?!" Kanda scoffs and brushes off Lavi's hand. "I'm going to find that bastard and _kill _him." Kanda hisses venomously. Lavi growls angrily. "Idiot! You don't even know where he is!" Kanda grins mischieviously. "Yes, I do. In the video, when he opened the door. I saw the mental hospital in the distance. I know where to go." He walks out, and soon Lavi and Lenalee run up to him and begin to walk behind him. They walk in silence, and any dispatching of zombies is also wordless. Each is lost in their own thoughts. Lavi is wondering how in the world Kanda managed to see the mental hospital in the small window of time the door had been open, Lenalee is hoping irrationally that Allen will be okay, and Kanda is making a mental map of where to find the place where the video had been shot. As such, none of them notice when they pass a few Zombies in an alleyway. When they hear the moans, though, they kill them immediately. But it's too late, and they can also hear the moans of other Zombies alerted by the predatory moan of the first. "Crap!" Kanda yells, knowing yelling won't make a difference now. They have set off a chain mob.

All three start running, hoping they can make it to a fire escape, or a ladder, or some exit upwards so the walking corpses can't follow. To their relief, horde of Zombies forming behind them, they do find an escape. One by one, and as fast as they can, they all clamber up the ladder of the fire escape. The faster Zombies are already groping at the lower rungs, rasping and clawing in a desperate attempt to catch their human prey. At the top of the first set of stairs, the small group stares down at the growing group of clamoring Infected. Then, a loud thud startles them. They whip around to see what _had_ been a family of four but what was now a group of ghouls clawing at the glass. They attempt to gnaw at the panes of flimsy material, and the panes warp, bending eerily and groaning. As cracks spread, the friends clamber up the next ladder, the next set of steps. This next balcony opens up into an almost identical apartment as the floor below, but this door is open.

oOo

**There. Did it. Once again, so sorry! Thank you to all of you who have commented.  
**

**Guest review: I am so sorry I didn't update in so long! I am really glad you liked it! Thank you!**

**kookiepup12: I know that's what I'm supposed to so, and I'm sorry if it annoys you, but my chapters are already too long, and besides, this stupid editing thing won't save any of my changes! I've tried to fix that, but nothing's happening...I'll keep trying. So sorry! I shall try find a beta reader, but for now, NONE of my friends are responding...at all...(-_-;)**


	10. The Inevitable

**Hey guys! I finally have the next chapter done! Thanks to the nagging of my friend...(-_-) *Sigh* Whatever! Here it is! Aaaand to my reviewers: THANK YOU SO MUCH!**

**The-Allenfangirl: Thank you for the offer to be a betareader, but I...think I'll pass. Thank you again though! And thank you for all of your reviews! I love them, love getting reviews! **

**Nella Moonblood Royalle: Well, you don't have to wait any longer! Here you go!  
**

Chapter 10: The Inevitable

The three teens carefully and silently file into the apartment. Not that being quiet will help now that the loud moans of the gathering horde below are echoing through the almost-empty streets and attracting yet more of the undead. Totally alert (and rather jumpy), the trio shuffles through the apartment, wary for yet-unnoticed ghouls. Thankfully, there are none, so the teens move towards the door. A loud thud and a long moan greet them as soon as they get close. As moans echo from down the hallway beyond the flimsy wooden door, the teens glance at each other and hurry to escape back onto the patio. Going up is impossible, going back would get them killed, so…

"Jump!" Kanda orders. "Go now!" Spurred on by the angry tone to Kanda's voice, Lavi makes the riskiest leap in his life. Screaming, he squeezes his eyes shut and prepares for a miss and a very long fall. To his surprise, he instead lands hard on the hard surface of the next balcony. Lavi sits up, overjoyed. He starts to laugh triumphantly, but then Lenalee yells,

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!" Lavi yelps and rolls to the side just in time. Lenalee lands perfectly on her feet right next to his head. Kanda leaps over, making the jump look easy. He glares at them both and hisses,

"Be _quiet, both of you!" _Lenalee rolls her eyes and Lavi pouts.

"But I actually made the jump…" Kanda silences his whining with another glare. They continue to quickly hop balconies until they come to one close enough to another building's fire escape to jump to that. Lavi manages to make the most noise possible, losing his balance upon landing and tumbling down two flights of clattering, clanging metal stairs. He receives two glares, a katana at his throat and a whack on the head for this. Sulking and holding a hand to his throat protectively, Lavi mopes and follows his team mates slowly. Finally, after a few more skirmishes, wrong turns and the like, they finally reach their destination. Kanda checks the view and nods. This is it. They are standing in the very alleyway that Allen had been left in. There is blood, dried blood, smeared outside the closed door. A trail leads towards the end of the alley, a dead end brick wall. But other than the blood, there is nothing, and maybe that's a good thing. Lenalee smiles a tiny smile, trying to look on the bright side with tears welling up in her eyes and spilling over.

"At least…there's no…remains, right? It'll…be less painful that way." Lavi pulls her into a comforting hug, and after a few seconds she pushes away his arms and walks determinedly towards the closed door.

"I hope to whatever fucked-up God is up there that the man who did that to Allen is in there," she says through gritted teeth, fists clenched. Without even trying the door to see if it's locked, Lenalee kicks it in. Walking slowly with their weapons out, the three teens search the house. There is nobody there. Then, Kanda finds another door, closed and locked. Exchanging looks with his friends, he tries it. Finding it unlocked, he pushes it open. Within, there is nothing but complete darkness. At the same time that Kanda opens this door, an extremely loud klaxon starts going off. Kanda swears and slams the door shut. The sound continues, and Lenalee screams over the sound,

"_IT WAS A TRAP!_ _RUN!" _The trio races to get out of the vicinity, but already Zombies are converging on the loudest sound in possibly the whole city. Having no other choice, the three find a narrow alley like before and prepare. Lenalee stands in front with her guns ready, breathing steadily, perfectly calm. As the Zombies start to filter in, Lenalee starts to pick them off with neat head shots. A pile of rotted bodies forms quickly and piles up. When Lenalee runs out of bullets in both guns, she falls back to reload. Kanda smoothly steps forwards to take her place, slicing off heads easily. When Lenalee is done, she steps forwards again and resumes the slaughtering. The companions switch out whenever they need a break, or when Lenalee needs to reload, etcetera. They have practiced this maneuver so many times that it's muscle memory. Then, when Lenalee steps back to reload for the fourth or fifth time, her hand encounters nothing on her belt. No cartridges. No bullets. Looking up, eyes wide with fear, she looks to Lavi, standing next to her.

"I'm out of ammo." Lavi nods and steps up to replace Kanda. He explains with two words.

"No ammo." Kanda swiftly cleans his katana and readies himself for when Lavi would have to take a break. Then, there's a loud clang, like metal denting. And that is exactly what it is. Lavi staggers backwards and Kanda steps forwards. Lavi's metal baseball bat has finally worn out too far and bent. Now useless, he tosses the thing to the side and grabs a chunk of brick to use just in case. Lenalee nods and follows suit. Then, when Kanda slices the head off of one Zombie, he swings too hard and the sword clangs against the wall. It snaps. Kanda curses as the blade snaps off close to the hilt. His weapon is now useless as well. Trapped, the three teens prepare themselves for possible death as more Zombies stagger into the alleyway. Lenalee and Lavi kill a couple undead with their bricks, but it takes too long, and too many more Zombies enter the alley before the living corpses are actually dead. The teens fall back and prepare. Lenalee is crying, shaking badly, and Kanda has his eyes closed, smiling a little and leaning almost calmly against the wall. His breathing is ragged. Lavi calms himself by calming Lenalee, by focusing on his friends instead of the Zombies. Smiling helplessly, Lavi holds Lenalee's hand and closes his eyes like Kanda, preparing himself for the inevitable.

**I'm sorry...a cliffie...but I have a plan, so I'll start typing immediately! Let's do this!**


	11. Unknown

**Okay, here is the next chapter. I am SO sorry for how short it is, that just seemed like a great place to end it. Thank you so much to everyone who commented!**

**jy24: Well, I am glad you enjoy my story. You have no idea how happ that makes me feel! (^x^) I don't know. Perhaps you will find out later...? (I'm so cryptic, haha...) That you will see later, I promise!**

**silkypxlt: You are very welcome! I do enjoy writing this story! Why thank you, I pride myself on my infuriating cliffhanger endings. I shall, and I did! **

**Now, to the story! Enjoy!**

Chapter 11: Unknown

Suddenly, without any warning at all, there is a small explosion, and Lavi flinches away instinctively. They all do. Sick squelching sounds meet their ears, and cold, wet drops and chunks of flesh hit them. Lavi, breaths shaky and muscles tensed, slowly manages to crack open his eyes. The Zombies have all been blown to bits save a couple that were either too far from the Survivors or too close. Lavi reacts without thinking, kicking and shoving at the corpses, snapping off their arms and just desperately fending off their clawed fingers and gaping jaws. Lavi finds himself yelling, screaming, wordless _sound _as he gasps for air and destroys the Zombies, mutilating the rotted carcasses past recognition, past being able to do any harm. Finally he stops, falling to his knees and panting, eyes wide and wild and crying. Fingers curled into gore-coated claws, skin and clothes splattered with blackish Zombie oil. Gasping shaky, hyperventilating, shallow breaths, Lavi curls up on the ground and clutches his head. He is done. Done. All of this, this 'surviving', this endless running and 'killing' and hiding and running and 'killing' and 'killing' and hiding and not dying and _surviving_ but never _living_. Lavi can vaguely feel his comrades shaking him, can vaguely hear them calling. Someone picks him up, there are some loud noises and running and yelling, but Lavi is detached and everything is blurred, smudged and nonsensical. He is put down, and finally blackness swallows him and there is nothing.

oOo

Kanda hears the explosion, feels the cold wet chunks of flesh and oily viscous blood. He hears Lavi screaming, can tell what's happening. But he doesn't want to open his eyes. Finally, when the red haired boy falls quiet and there's just silence and his rasping breaths, Kanda opens his eyes. He ignores the gore and ripped-up Zombies still twitching, still trying to move, and jerking spasmodically. Stupid things. Stupid mindless things. Feeling detached but still aware and in possession of his mental faculties, Kanda gets Lenalee to get up, to follow him, to shove aside her emotions for now. If she doesn't, if he doesn't, they will go the same way as Lavi. They will collapse and break and go insane. As Kanda picks up his comrade from the ground and carries him, he thinks of what Lavi had been screaming. His breathing shudders a couple times but he holds on. He was always stubborn. _'I don't CARE!' 'I'm DONE!' 'This isn't LIVING! I HATE it!' 'I don't want to just SURVIVE!' _Kanda thinks of these things, of what Lavi had been yelling, screaming, shrieking in his bout of madness. They're true. But he can't dwell on that, he shouldn't. He'll collapse.

Kanda is jarred abruptly from his thoughts by a very loud metallic clang close by. A strong metal crowbar bounces off the concrete and clatters in front of him. It is followed by another long metal item, another weapon. A katana. Next, a bag. A rather large bag, half-full of many cartridges, for a gun. A pistol. Or maybe for two. Kanda looks up to where these gifts came from. He catches the tiniest glimpse of someone at the top of a rusty fire escape before they turn and move from view. He hears them speak, a raspy and unrecognizable voice. "You should be less loud. Those are for you." Then, no matter how Kanda yells or looks, the person is gone. Disappeared. Kanda and Lenalee pick up the useful presents and carry them, heading for somewhere they can hide, somewhere 'safe'. Safe-_er, _more like. Nowhere is truly safe anymore, only safer. They finally find a house with destroyable front and back steps, heavy curtains and no Infected. They destroy the steps, barricade the doors cover the windows. Lavi is deposited on the couch, and finally his blank, glassy eyes close and he sleeps. Kanda and Lenalee stay awake for hours after him, staring listlessly at some wall or object, not talking. Then they too let their exhaustion, both mental and physical, claim them.

oOo

Outside the house, watching through a crack in the hastily closed drapes, a figure smiles. They're all asleep. The figure calmly stands from its crouching position, fingers clutching the small object in its hand in a white-knuckled grip. Walking slowly, casually, to the front door, the person reaches over the step and deposits their gift in front of the door. Then, they turn away and walk away, hands already on the two long sharp knives serving as their weapons. Oh, those kids will find the gift eventually. They won't ever find _him, _though. Never that. Walking quicker, the figure does a neat flip over a park fence and runs away. They're limping slightly.

**Oops, another cliffhanger ending. I think this story is just gonna be all cliffhangers. I am...not...sorry. (^_^) I am so cryptic sometimes...oh well. I would like to send out a special thanks to a certain playlist on YouTube which aided me greatly in the writing of this chapter and the next, which I am beginning! 'Creepypasta Music + Dark Soundtracks', thank you! You really got me in the mood! **

**Ciao for now everyone, see ya soon! (Or not.)**


	12. Intruders

**Alright! The next chapter! I had so much fun writing this...don't worry, I'm already starting on the next one! I've decided that cliffhangers are just gonna be the norm for this story. Sorry-not-sorry, get used to them! (^-^) And a huge thank you to everyone who commented, I hope this chapter clears up a little for you!**

**silkypxlt: No can do, sorry! I am still not sorry about the cliffhangers. Like I said, get used to 'em! What I can do is make it a little easier to read for ya though! I separated the speech from the text, hope that appeases you a little. **

**jy24: Thank you for commenting! I hope I answered all your questions!**

Chapter 12: Intruders

Lavi resurfaces slowly, consciousness reclaiming him grudgingly. He groans softly, and then remembers and shuts up. Sitting up slowly and quietly, he looks around. To his surprise, he is on a couch in a house, Lenalee and Kanda asleep nearby. Getting up, he tiptoes over to a window and peeks out through a gap in the curtains. Satisfied, Lavi closes the curtains fully. He moves to the locked and barricaded front door and looks out the peephole, noting the nonexistent stairs keeping the Zombies from getting close. He also notes a small object just below proper viewing range of the peephole. Innately curious and sensibly wary, Lavi opens the door the tiniest of cracks and peeks out. He snatches up the small object and immediately closes and locks the door, shoving the chair back against it. Walking back to the couch, he plops himself down and studies the small cardboard box. Putting it aside, he decides to keep from looking at it until his companions are awake as well. Soon, they do wake up.

"Hahhh…Lavi! You're alright? Good! I am so glad!" Lenalee chirps, leaping up to wrap him in a huge bear hug. Lavi pats her back and grins, reassuring her that he's just fine now. Kanda is awoken by Lenalee's outburst, and he does nothing but nod slightly to Lavi and then turn his immediate attention to the cardboard box.

"What the fuck is that?" he asks, annoyed. Lavi shrugs.

"I dunno. It was outside." The three stare at it warily before picking at it gingerly to open it. When they see what's inside, Lenalee's eyes widen and she gasps.

"Oh fuck…" she says quietly, lifting the item from the box. "I thought this was gone…I lost it somewhere…how the hell did it…?" She trails off, dumbfounded and creeped out. Lavi shrugs, staring at the Hello Kitty plushie with something akin to fear.

"Didn't you get that at the mental hospital and then, lose it?" he asks quietly. Lenalee nods and Kanda swears angrily.

"Who the fuck…?" he hisses, unable to finish. Lavi shrugs.

"I dunno, but it's pretty creepy. You should…get rid of it." Lenalee shakes her head vehemently.

"No. I got it at the mental hospital, and want to keep it. Besides, there are…there are memories attached to it. I can't just leave it." Lavi nods, understanding. Kanda growls and turns away, walking off to the kitchen to find something to eat. Lavi stares after him while Lenalee stares at her stuffy, tears gathering in her eyes as she thinks of Allen. Lavi comforts her but his thoughts return to Kanda. He can't help but grin. Kanda really does hate cute stuff, doesn't he? Hates it so much he can't even stand a stuffy Lenalee is emotionally attached to. Or…Lavi frowns. Or maybe it's not the stuffy but the memories. Maybe Kanda is finally showing some emotion…Lavi nods. That's it. Kanda has finally let his mask slip a little. Lavi chuckles hopelessly. And his mask won't ever crack further or break away because…the one who can make it do that is dead. Eaten by Zombies. Gone. Lavi sits with his head in his hands and mulls over just how far his life has fallen.

oOo

The lone figure stands in the middle of the park, face upturned to the sky, wondering if the group of teens has found his gift yet. Wondering what they think. He grins a bitter grin. Maybe it will hurt them, maybe it will help them. He…doesn't care. He doesn't care either way. All he cares about now is surviving, continuing to live this half-life in this undead city. He will avoid the revenge-hungry teens and any other groups of Survivors, and he will continue to live. Safety in numbers? Ha! All others do is get you in greater danger. He has learned that the hard way many times over. There is no safety in numbers, and the only one you can trust is yourself. Turning his eyes to the Zombies before him, he grips his weapons tighter. Oh, he helped them once. But that was out of sadism. Yes, he saved them from the Zombies, but all that did was prolong the misery, render futile the final acceptance of death, keep them there to watch, to observe. A wide grin spreads across his face as he slashes at the walking corpses, dismembering them, mutilating them, destroying them. There is no _killing_ them, they're already dead. Any hope or forgiveness or kindness in his heart has been quashed. It has been for a long time. Laughing now, the figure stands amongst the carnage he has wreaked and revels in the feeling of freedom. No more being told what to do, no more restraints and rules. He is free, finally free. Then, the smile disappears and the laughter cuts off with a small choked sound and he falls to his knees in the Zombie oil.

"What…has become of me? What has become of humanity? This city? Where…have we gone? Where did we go wrong? _What did we do?"_ He stares up at the sky again and his shoulders shake with half-sobs, half-giggles. Oh yes, he has snapped. He has cracked. But he did that a long time ago, didn't he? Oh yes, he did. And it was all her fault…all _their_ fault…and that bitterness, that hatred, it's still there. It's keeping him from being fixed. The real him, that is, the one no one is allowed to see. Oh, yes…he's twisted, alright. But really. Who cares? Who is there to care? They're all shambling corpses, fit only to be massacred. Now grinning again, the figure stands and runs a hand through his hair. Flakes of dried blood chip off and he snickers. He's filthy, but oh well. Isn't everyone, in this world we live in now?

oOo

"Shit." Kanda swears venomously, slamming the cupboard shut. Lenalee peeks into the kitchen, concern written clearly on her face.

"What's wrong, Kanda?" Kanda gestures to the cupboard.

"We're running low on food and water. It's time for a supplies run." Lenalee nods and goes to retrieve Lavi, who had been taking a nap. When Lavi has arrived, they discuss where they're gonna go for this run.

"Well, we could always go check out a grocery store, see what's left," Lavi suggests with a shrug. Kanda dismisses this.

"Too risky. There could be a horde, and nothing there." Lavi shrugs again.

"It was just a thought." Lenalee nods.

"It's okay, Lavi. But where _will _we get our supplies?" There is a long silence in which all of them think about possible solutions. Finally, Lenalee raises her hand and grins at the joke. Kanda rolls his eyes and gestures at her. Lenalee giggles before stating her idea. "We _could _just go raid some houses. There's got to be _some_ imperishable goods. And water bottles." There is a short silence, and then Kanda shrugs.

"Sure, why not. It's less risky than a supermarket." The three grab their backpacks, emptying them for more room. Lenalee loads her belt with cartridges, making sure there's lots of ammo. Lavi grabs the metal crowbar and tests its swing and weight. Perfect. Kanda sharpens the katana, which he has named Mugen again, and sheathes it. They sneak from the house, leaving the door closed but not locked. Not that they _can_ lock it, with no key. They move quietly down the street, keeping a lookout for undead and trying each house as they pass. Most are empty, some have sparse provisions, one is a jackpot, and a few have Zombies. There are a couple very close calls, Zombies that take the teens by surprise. Finally, they decide that they have enough supplies for the time being. Heading back, they stop dead in their tracks upon seeing their current safehouse. Kanda draws Mugen slowly, making barely any sound. Lenalee reloads her guns, holding one in a ready position and placing the other in an easy-to-reach position on her belt. Lavi readjusts his grip on the crowbar and stares warily like his friends at the door of the house. The door that is now sitting wide open. Lenalee slowly walks forwards, gun at the ready. She's breathing evenly, a calm almost-glare fixed on the darkness beyond the doorway. Lavi and Kanda follow at the same wary pace, weapons at the ready. The trio walks into the house and stops. There is a group of people standing in the living room. One reaches over and whips the curtains open, flooding the room with light and making a racket as the metal hoops scraped and clattered against the curtain rod. The three teens are openly glaring, pissed off and covering up their fear. Two of the intruders are lounging o the couch, and there is one more on the left side of the piece of furniture. The one leaning against the back of the couch lazily is grinning, a catlike smile which fits with his carefree, somehow intimidating attitude. The girl sitting on the couch is upside-down, feet kicking in the air childishly as her spiky-haired head hangs over the edge of the cushion. She looks bored, and the three can sense that her boredom is a terrifying thing. The last, a…boy? Girl? A _person _with long blonde hair with black streaks in it is lounging next to the girl. They are wearing far too much black makeup, and a garish bright-red jacket-type thing as well as tall black boots. The girl with purple hair speaks up first.

"Quit glaring. That's _rude_, you know," she says in a mocking, whiny little-girl voice despite her obvious teenage age. She kicks her feet a couple more times before rolling off the couch and hopping up, turning around to sit on it properly. She rests her chin in her hands and smiles eerily. The man leaning against the couch behind her shakes his head at the continued icy silence of the teen Survivors.

"Give up, Road. They hate us already, and that's just going to get worse." Road rolls her eyes and eats a candy from her pocket sulkily. The last one looks at the three in boredom.

"Hey, say something, will you?" he says, slipping a gun from his belt. "I'm bored waiting for you." He loads the gun and points it at Kanda, and in response Lenalee shifts her aim to aim at him, glare deepening. His eyes widen slightly and he drops the gun to his lap. Road laughs, rolling around and kicking her feet in amusement.

"Ahaha! That was priceless! Your _face_, Jasdevi!" Kanda growls angrily and hisses,

"What do you want? Get out!" The man leaning on the couch smiles and shakes his head helplessly.

"Sorry, no can do. See, we're here to get rid of you. You're rather annoying." Lavi tosses his crowbar up in the air and catches it lightly.

"Nope, not happening. If anyone is being gotten rid of, it'll be you." The man laughs. "Oh, you're being cocky." The good-natured smile disappears from his face to be replaced by a sadistic grin.

"We'll just have to see, won't we?" he says tauntingly. Road sits up, all traces of her childishness attitude gone. Now she is scarily serious, a deranged smile on her face as she slowly pulls out a large pocketknife from a pocket in her scuffed, ripped and blood-spattered skirt.

"Yeah, we'll just see. Now, _play with me, samurai-boy._" She taunts and leaps towards Kanda. Kanda blocks the thrust of her knife, but doesn't kill her, obviously apprehensive about killing another Survivor, even if they are attacking him. She grins insanely and tries to stab him in the stomach. "Don't be scared, _samurai-boy! _I _like _playing _rough!" _Kanda dodges another swipe, and Lavi jumps in, intending to help. Jasdevi intercepts, gun parrying the crowbar easily with a metallic **_clang_**_! _Lavi grimaces at the shock to his arm and swipes at the gun, hitting the barrel away from pointing in his direction. Lenalee points her gun between the two people threatening her friends indecisively. The final intruder leaps at her and kicks the weapon from her hands. She scrambles to grab her other pistol, but he smoothly follows through by snatching it from her belt and tossing it across the room. Unarmed, Lenalee regards him suspiciously. Why didn't he keep the weapon? He had it in hand and threw it away…what tricks does he have up his sleeve? The man grins.

"I enjoy playing and fighting fair. No weapons, just hand-to-hand combat. Agreed?" Lenalee nods slowly, planning on slowly making her way over to one of her pistols. Road cackles from across the room as she scores a hit, grazing Kanda's arm with her blade. Kanda parries and dodges, twisting uncomfortably to get away from her frenzied attacks. Lavi fends off his attacker's repeated attempts to shoot him with his own weapon, not able to get in a blow edgewise until Lenalee's opponent distracts his own.

"That's really not a very fair fight, Jasdevi," the man fighting Lenalee chides, a small teasing smile gracing his features. Jasdevi rolls his eyes.

"Like I care! You're a killjoy Tyki! I just want to _win!" _On the last word, he attempts one last time to fire his gun at Lavi, taking a risk and staying put instead of dodging. The bullet grazes Lavi's side, earning a grunt of pain, but Lavi gets a large gash in his opponent's arm in return. Jasdevi cries out and drops his weapon. He succeeds in disarming Lavi as Lavi has an internal celebration though, and their battle turns to hand-to-hand, each trying to keep the other from reaching a weapon. Lenalee blocks another punch from her opponent, now named as Tyki, and glances over at Kanda to check on him. That is a mistake. Tyki slips around her defense in her distraction and takes her by surprise. The girl yelps as she is flipped head-over-heels and slammed to the floor. Tyki grins and moves to deliver a knockout blow, but a dazed Lenalee rolls out of the way just in time. She kicks out, tripping up the man. Tyki recovers quickly, but Lenalee has already done a neat flip and gotten up, moving herself closer to one of her pistols in the process. Tyki glances at the gun and grins.

"Ah, ah, ah…I see what you're trying to do. Not. Allowed." Without any warning, and showing speed he hadn't before, Tyki dives at Lenalee, tripping her up. He attacks when she is on the ground, forcing her to roll away from him and the pistol to escape being knocked unconscious. Meanwhile, Kanda is still wary of hurting or killing the girl attacking him with abandon. He knows that she's attacking him, aiming for the kill, but he can't bring himself to return those sentiments and kill one of the few surviving humans left. Road grins, a simpering smile.

"Aww, getting soft? What happened to the angry samurai after his little friend died? I was a part of that, you know. I helped plan it all. Tyki there was hurting him with my help…it was _fun,_" Road teases. Kanda stops, dumbfounded. She almost scores a hit, but then rage fills his blue eyes, turning them hard as steel and as cold.

"You _bitch!" _he hisses, bloodlust overcoming his apprehension. As he attacks her, aiming for the kill, Road laughs in joy. "Yes! Just like I wanted! _Play _with me, boy! We'll see who wins!" Nearby, Lenalee stares in shock at Tyki.

"You…were the one that did that…? _You _were the one who killed Allen? I…" Tyki stops as well, waiting for her to finish. He is expecting anger, but not the sheer rage that springs to Lenalee's face and stance. "I…_hate_…you! You _BASTARD!" _Lenalee screams, and leaps at him with renewed strength. She no longer cares about her pistols. Moving so fast Tyki can barely keep up, Lenalee kicks, punches and hits with abandon, letting him get in some hits in return for a flurry of punches on her part. Kanda growls and swipes at Road again and again with reckless abandon. She laughs and dodges easily, although she does get a couple small cuts. She counterattacks, lunging past the blade and stabbing her own weapon into Kanda's side. He yells and dodges away, wrenching the knife from her hands. Blood pours from the wound, a thick metallic scent permeating the air. None of the fighting Survivors has a thought for how many Zombies their battle must be attracting.

oOo

Outside, a figure cuts down all the incoming undead, using two large knives and grinning hugely. He almost dances around, scampering from Zombie to Zombie and getting not a scratch. Finally done for the moment, the figure turns to the house and watches the battles through the window. One in particular he watches closely. He hopes so dearly that the girl doesn't kill his target before he gets to…

**And there you have it! Thanks for reading, and I always love comments! They keep me going! Have fun speculating on our mystery person there!**

**-kittyluv2000 out-**


	13. Revealed

**Hey everybody! I have the next chapter! *sigh* If you're wondering if I will ever post on any of my other stories, the answer is yes. It might just take awhile. One, I can only type my stories during the weekend, and two, I have severe writer's block for all my stories right now. Thank you very much to everyone who commented! I absolutely love reading your comments, it makes my day even if it's criticism! I thank you for criticism and compliments, because it means that people are actually reading this story... (-_-;)**

**DaughterofAbyss: Yes, yes they did. This chapter is the result of that, hint hint. (^-^)**

**silkypxlt: Hahaha, I'm glad you're happy! As for the cliffhangers, you're just gonna have to get used to them. Veeeery rarely do I ever not end chapters with cliffies. I am so glad you like my story that much! Yay!**

Chapter 13: Revealed

Kanda, blinded by rage, slashes at stabs at the laughing violet-haired girl before him. She twists and leaps, ducks and contorts herself to dodge the katana. She continues laughing, returning a few swipes with her knife. But she is tiring, while Kanda, fueled by rage, is not. Her escapes become closer and closer, her dodges sloppier and sloppier. Finally, the sharp katana blade catches her, slicing into her side. Blood spurts as Road falls to her knees, clutching at the fatal wound and gasping. Kanda watches as she looks up at him with a sick grin, blood dripping from the corners of her mouth as she gasps for air and tries to speak.

"That was…fun…" she gurgles, blood filling her sliced lung. Then, she slumps over, eyes glassy and rolled back in her head. At the same moment, Tyki, distracted by her death, is knocked unconscious by a kick to the head where he is kneeling on the floor. Lenalee smiles slightly and backs away, satisfied. Lavi finally gets the chance to snatch up a weapon, this being Jasdevi's gun. He breaths deeply, aims, and fires, and another one of the intruders are dead. As they all stand there, tired and taking a rest, realization hits them one by one.

"Oh, fuck…" Kanda murmurs, staring in horror at the bright crimson liquid dripping off his blade and the body cooling on the floor. Lavi drops the gun, letting it tumble from his shaking fingers.

"I…I just…" Lenalee glances over.

"Tyki isn't dead." She says this with relief, not wanting the stain of a living human on her hands and conscience. But the other two are not so fortunate. Yes, they have killed Zombies before, but they aren't the same. Zombies don't grow cold as their red blood soaks into the wood floor. Zombies don't give one last gasp of air and stare at you with accusing, hopeless eyes before those eyes go glassy and dead. Zombies are already dead, rotting parodies of what they used to be. They are easier to 'kill'. Kanda throws the sword in his hand away from him in a spasm of disgust for the thing and himself. His eyes stay fixed on the girl, by all appearances younger than him by several years, lying twisted on the floor with a grin locked on her blood-smeared face. Lavi stares fixedly with blank eyes at the person lying so still before him, a neat hole in his forehead and blood spattered across the wall behind him. Only Lenalee realizes that they should be inundated with Undead right now.

"Guys. Don't you think it's a little…odd…that after all that, there isn't a single Zombie here? We weren't being anywhere near quiet." That snaps her friends from their stupors and takes their minds off the acts they have just committed.

"Yeah…" Lavi says quietly. His eyes stray to the large window behind Lenalee which gives a clear view of the street in front of the house…and the carnage strewn across it.

"What the…" Kanda mutters, seeing this too. Lenalee leans over, and she sees the figure standing in the center of it all, staring right back at her. "There's someone out there," she says softly. "They killed all of the Zombies that came." The three grab their weapons again, wary of this new stranger who is apparently no stranger to slaughtering Zombies. Slowly, they walk outside. The stranger's eyes follow them, face blank of all emotion. When they are all standing fully outside of the house, the stranger turns towards them. Kanda squints, unsure.

"He looks…familiar." He mutters to his comrades.

"Yeah," Lavi mutters back. The stranger takes a single step towards them, and a feral grin spreads over his face. There is a strange light in his eyes, an insane spark that deeply disturbs the three Survivors watching. As they watch, the man sheathes his knives in some makeshift sheath on his back. Kanda clears his throat and speaks up.

"Thanks, I guess. For killing the Zombies." The stranger tips his head back and laughs, and his laugh is just as insane as his eyes and the grin n his face would suggest. Then, he looks down at them and shrugs.

"No problem," he rasps in an unused voice. "I rather enjoy it." He glances down at the rotted corpse of a woman at his feet and kicks it, producing a sickening squelch. Behind the Survivors, in the house, Tyki groans. The man's head snaps up at this, eyes wide. "He's not dead?" he asks in surprise. Lenalee shakes her head.

"No, just unconscious. At this news, the insane man grins hugely and starts walking towards the house.

"Good!" he says gleefully. The teens part as he nears, and as he gets closer they can see that this insane person is in fact a teenager like them. They can also see that the reddish-brown color of his hair is dried blood, not his actual hair. The boy reaches behind him and pulls out one of the large knives there. Lavi places a hand on his shoulder, stopping him.

"What are you doing?" he asks suspiciously. The teen glares at him, shrugs off his hand and continues into the house. Becoming increasingly suspicious and fearful, the three friends follow him. Their suspicions are confirmed when the boy kneels next to Tyki, who is just waking up, and places the sharp edge against his exposed throat. Tyki freezes, eyes flicking open. Lenalee dashes forwards, hand clamping onto the boy's wrist.

"What are you doing?! Don't kill him!" The boy turns his head to her slowly, eyes devoid of emotion boring into hers.

"And why not." He states emotionlessly. Lenalee sputters.

"Because…because…he deserves to live! He's still human!" The boy's eyes flick over to the other two bodies lying in the room and then back to Lenalee. One eyebrow rises.

"And they didn't?" he says quietly. Lenalee starts, and Lavi and Kanda flinch visibly. Lenalee stutters and chokes on her words. Tyki interrupts her.

"Do it." Lenalee's eyes snap to him, wide. The boy with a knife to Tyki's throat grins.

"Do what, exactly?" Tyki glares at him defiantly.

"Kill me. Just get it over with if you're going to do it. It's not like I have anything left to live for anyways. They're all dead." Lenalee begins to protest, but her words fall on deaf ears, and the sharp blade slices across Tyki's throat. The boy stares for a few seconds at the blood gushing from the man's slit neck, and Lenalee stares too, horrified eyes fixed on Tyki as he chokes on blood. Then she is distracted from the grotesque sight by the stranger standing up after wiping his knife on the carpeted floor. Lenalee stares, confused and worried not to mention disturbed and sickened by the boy as he stares awhile longer at the dying man at his feet. Then, Lenalee has to lunge forwards to catch the strange person as he staggers and falls, eyes rolling back in his head. The teenage Survivor manages to keep the unconscious boy's head from hitting the floor, but as soon as the downward momentum is slowed enough, Lenalee drops the boy like hot coals, not wanting to touch the person any more than possible. Lavi and Kanda walk over warily, and Kanda starts checking the boy for any wounds that may have caused his collapse. He finds one thing which interests him, but nothing that would have caused the fainting spell. Done checking, Kanda calls over Lavi and Lenalee.

"Look at this," he says softly, gesturing to the boy's leg, the pants leg of which he has rolled up. Lenalee and Lavi look, and Lavi gasps. He looks at Kanda, suspicion clear in his one green eye. Thoughts racing, Lavi strips off the soiled gloves from the boy's hands. The removal of the fabric reveals one hand wrapped tightly in bandages, a couple fingers obviously broken. The other hand is a bright red color, crinkled and almost scaly-feeling. Lavi's eye widens further along with his comrades' eyes, and Lenalee runs to fetch some water and a cloth from the kitchen. She sets to washing away the grime from the boy's face. What had looked like just more gore splattered on his face is revealed to be the unique scar they had come to recognize, and as Lenalee washes the blood from it, his hair is revealed to be white.

"Allen…" Lenalee murmurs softly, thinking of what this boy had just done, and how he had been acting. "…what _happened _to you? Who have you become?" And in her mind as well as her comrades, the unspoken question burns: _And how are you alive?_

**Woohoo! I, uh...well, I just killed off more characters. My friend is gonna be either mad, or fed up. They are done with my tendency to kill of characters. Well, here's to my exasperated friend: AT LEAST IT WASN'T ALLEN THIS TIME! ;-P **

**I have already started the next chapter. It's gonna be a bit of backstory, so not really any plot advancement, but it should clear up SOME questions. Or maybe just create more...well, bye guys!**


	14. Truth

**Alright! I have to post this today because I told my friend I would, and she will kill me if I don't. Also, nothing better to do. No school. (Yessss!) I actually have a suggested song today! The song(s) I suggest listening to whilst reading are:**

**-DGM OST 1: Jean to Leo**

**-DGM OST 1: Kanashimi no Tamashii**

**Just saying, they might be the same song...I forget... (-_-;) Okay, on to the reviews! Thank you as always to those who reviewed, it is much appreciated! I love reading your comments!**

**silkypxlt: I'm sorry! I'm sorry! But that was really the only way to end that fight...ha, I am glad you liked that chapter! Awwww, thank yoooouuuu! *crying happily* You're so sweeeet... Okay. Here, the next chappie, just for you!**

**jy24: Why thank you! I'm glad you like it so much! This chapter is kinda fluffy...**

**Alright, to the chapter! This chapter is gonna be kind of fluffy, and sweet. No cliffhanger ending! Woohoo! (Don't kill me now, okay?)**

**oOo**

Chapter 14: Truth

_It was a massacre. Usually, the boy only came to the hospital for minor treatment, just to chat with the therapist or practice keeping all his different selves under control. This time, he came to stay. He had lost control, let one self out that was never meant to be, never meant to exist let alone have control. That self landed him in a small white room, struggling in a straitjacket, frantically calling for his parents and wondering why nobody would look at him in the eye. Wondering why they were all whispering about him and giving him looks like he had killed someone. _

oOo

Allen moans softly and starts to rub his eyes. But his wrists encounter fabric, holding him down. His eyes snap open, and a small panicked whine escapes his dry throat. Yanking on the restraints on his wrists and ankles and thrashing, Allen tries to yell. No sound comes, and finally he settles down, eyes going flat and sad. A small voice from next to him whispers a shy,

"Allen?" Allen looks over, breath catching just a little when he sees Lenalee's face. Lenalee looks frightened of him. She is standing next to the bed he's tied to, but not too close. Allen opens his mouth to try speaking, but nothing comes out. Allen closes his eyes, a tear tracing down his cheek. _It happened again. _Allen sniffles and hopes to the God he is sure has abandoned him that nothing bad happened. He hears someone else enter the room. Lavi's voice mutters something Allen can't hear to Lenalee. Allen continues to cry soundless sobs. Then, Lavi speaks to him.

"Allen buddy, is that you now?" Allen opens his eyes and looks at Lavi. He nods slowly, eyes sad. Lavi smiles a little. "You weren't acting like you before. Was that a different personality again?" Allen nods again, tears starting anew. His hands clasp at the bed sheets beneath him, itching for a notepad. Lavi notices this and quickly unties him. Allen sits up and curls into a ball. Lavi hands him a pencil and the notepad he had been using before. Allen begins to write, sentences forming paragraphs and paragraphs filling pages. It seems that he's writing a whole story. But first, he rips out one page and hastily scrawls a question on it. Did he do anything bad? Allen asks by holding up the ripped page. Lavi and Lenalee exchange unsure looks. Lavi finally swallows and starts to talk, choking on his words at first.

"He…whoever that personality was, he…he killed Tyki Mikk. Slit his throat." Allen's eyes widen and he starts crying anew, tears spilling down his cheeks. Allen wipes at them but gives up after a bit. Kanda walks in and sees this. His features arrange into a scowl.

"Why are you crying?" he says flatly, angry eyes directed at Allen. Allen looks up, eyes wide. He writes a short answer on the backside of the previously torn paper. _Because I killed him._ Kanda grabs the paper from his hand and tears it into pieces.

"So. What." He hisses angrily. "He _tortured _you. He left you to be killed by Zombies! Why the hell are you crying over the fact that that monster is dead?!" Allen frowns, eyes turning sad and too _old _to be in this boy's body. He shakes his head and writes his response again on a separate sheet of paper.

_Nobody deserves to die, even if they were terrible. Everyone should get another chance._ Kanda growls and swears.

"You're too fucking _nice, _you idiot. That's gonna get you killed." Allen smiles a small smile and hands him the notebook where he has been continuing to write. Kanda gives it to Lavi, who begins to read it aloud.

"The personality you saw is named the Destroyer of Time. He is completely insane, past reasoning, past anything other than killing, which is all he does. The only reason you aren't all dead along with anything else that moves in this place is because he only got out a little. That was only a tiny bit of his insanity peeking through. But he's powerful, and he still had total control even if he was only let out a little. I keep him way in the back of my head, down where all the really bad stuff I don't want to remember goes. Destroyer of Time has only ever gotten out once before. He's…he's the reason I was in the mental hospital. Otherwise I would have just been getting small therapy classes. Destroyer of Time is also why the people at the mental hospital decided to leave me behind instead of just coming in to get me when the Zombie threat came." Here, Lavi pauses and looks at Allen. "They _decided _to leave you there? But you said before…" Lavi trails off, realizing that Allen had twisted the truth in order to hide from them this terrifying truth. Allen gestures for Lavi to continue, a sad smile still wavering on his features. Lavi swallows and reads on.

"The last time he got out, it was a total massacre. He killed…so many people…and without a single inhibition. When I came back, they had already decided to put me in the mental hospital. I woke up in a straitjacket in my room. I didn't remember anything, and was really confused. When I discovered what had happened, what 'I' had done, that's when I became mute. Out of shock, they thought. I guess it happened again this time." Lavi stops there, the writing having ended. Allen stares up at him, that bitter smile still on his face. Lenalee sits next to Allen on the bed and hugs him tightly.

"It's okay, Allen. We're here, for you. We won't leave you behind." Allen's eyes widen, and tears gather in them. He smiles happily and hugs her back. Lavi sits on Allen's other side and hugs him too, smiling softly. E then gets up and drags Kanda over.

"C'mon, Kanda. You're part of our group, too!" Kanda grudgingly joins the group hug, liking the sentiments but not willing to put down his pride to admit it. Allen leans into the hugs from his comrades and cries in happiness, glad that he's finally found true friends. The four stay like this for a long while, rejoicing in having found each other again, happy to ignore the world around them for a little while.

**Aww, how cute...now, just saying, be prepared for no update in a while. I have total writer's block right now, and I haven't even started the next chapter...waahhhh...sorry! Bye for now, see ya!**


	15. Safe

**Alright! My writer's block has disappeared! Yay! Thank you to my friend Memorysmile for helping me with ideas! So last chapter I managed to not end with a cliffie...well, that was a one-time thing, sorry to say. Yes, we are back to cliffhanger endings. Not sorry. *grin* Now, for the reviewers!**

**silkypxlt: Thank you! He is cute. (; Lol! Yes, it's definitely great that he has such good friends! **

**Well darn, looks like nobody else commented...but I got a whole bunch of follows and faves! Thank you!**

Chapter 15: Safe

Lenalee opens her eyes slowly and sits up, smiling once more at her fortune and the room she had claimed as her own. This bed is comfy, and she had slept well, more so than she had in months. Her and all her comrades, each in their own rooms, sleeping peacefully in the isolated, well-protected house they had taken as their own. The thought is wonderful. The house had been a rich family's house way out on the very outskirts of town, up on a high hill, with tall stone walls around it for protection as well as aesthetic. It is perfect. It seems that the family living here had left quickly, and without much planning, as the pantry is still stocked with food, mostly nonperishables. It had been gross to clean out the fridge and those perishable things, but now it was worth it. The house is far enough away from the city that it will be a long time till Zombies manage to get here, and since it's on a hill with walls, it will be easy to keep them away. There is an emergency generator and a small stock of fuel, enough to last a couple winters if saved, and a well on the property as well as a water purifier. This place truly is a safe haven, and it's certainly welcome. The teens have been here a few weeks now, and to cook or warm water, they have been using the wood fireplace, using hot coals to cook on and boil water. Lenalee stretches and gets up. The first thing she does is check out all the windows and do a quick jog around the perimeters of the wall, checking for any stray Zombies that may have arrived. The Survivors have become a little more relaxed with their security in the safety of this house, but not so lax as to be stupid. When Lenalee returns to the house, the bright morning sun has woken her comrades. Allen is in the living room with Lavi, trying to get his voice back. Kanda is cooking breakfast next to them, being the appointed chef. As the teens had found in the first few days at this haven, Kanda is the best cook of the four of them, Allen being the worst cook. When Lenalee enters, there is a chorus of greetings from her comrades; Allen's being in the form of a big hug. Kanda just grunts, but that's just fine with Lenalee. That's how Kanda is. Lenalee sits next to Allen and swaps between helping Kanda and helping Lavi. She rests her head on Allen's shoulder and smiles. Here, together in this house with her friends, Lenalee feels at home, like she's with family. She feels at peace, for the first time in so long. Allen smiles at her and pats her head. He enjoys doing that, stroking her hair, feeling how soft it is. He has told her so, and he has told her that he is happier here than ever before.

Lavi watches with mild interest as Allen smiles at Lenalee and strokes her hair. Lenalee giggles and lets him. Lavi raises an eyebrow. Truthfully, he feels a little…jealous. He knows why, but he wants to deny it. They're just friends, nothing more, and there really isn't the time or need for that kind of thing during the apocalypse. Lavi looks away, out the window. The day is bright and sunny, warm and beautiful for once in a long while. Getting up, Lavi announces that he's going for a walk. Allen looks at him curiously but says nothing (not that he could if he wanted to) and makes no move to stop the redhead. Lenalee chirps a happy affirmation and wishes him a good time. Kanda mutters something about breakfast being ready soon so don't take too long, which makes Lavi laugh. Kanda sounds like a nagging mother. Closing the door gently behind him, Lavi walks outside like there's nothing wrong and glances around. Then, he starts jogging. He needs some alone time, actual alone time, to try figure himself out.

Kanda fumes silently, stirring up the Spam in the pan in the fireplace. He feels like a fucking mother, cooking breakfast for a bunch of immature kids and making sure they don't stray too far. He is distracted from his thoughts when Allen shimmies up next to him and takes the pan and spatula from him. "My turn," he mouths, smiling. Kanda snatches back the utensil.

"No way, sprout. You're gonna burn it or something." As Allen pouts and goes back to working on his voice, Kanda sighs, letting go of his anger. Kanda would rather be a mom than have his food burned by that clumsy kid. Kanda grins just a little and shakes his head. Allen is more trouble than he's worth. But Kanda doesn't actually mean that, does he? Nope. He has gotten attached to the kid just as much as Lenalee has.

Allen sits in silence. Kanda is wrapped up in his cooking, finishing up, and Lenalee has left to get dressed and ready. Staring out the window, Allen carefully arranges his face into a spaced-out expression, so that if he doesn't respond to his comrades, that'll be his excuse. Ever since Destroyer had gotten out, Allen has been having a hard time staying in control over his other personalities. Crown Clown has been popping up more often to offer his opinion, where usually he would only show up in dangerous situations. Neah is also more active, always interrupting Allen's thoughts or trying to take control. Red is just plain annoying, continually taking Allen off-guard with his attempts at escape and loud 'talking'. Allen has been covering it up well during the day, but it gives him such a terrible headache. Quietly, and still facing away from the rest of the room, Allen mouths his concerns.

"Are they really helping me? Are they really good? Can I…can I hold on long enough?" Allen rests his throbbing forehead against the cool glass and sighs silently. He truly doesn't know.

**That wasn't toooooo bad of a cliffie, was it?**


	16. Struggling

**Okay, I will just post this next chapter now and get it over with. (Phew, let's prep for anger from all the fans...) Just to clarify, I'M SORRY! THE PLOT RAN AWAY! IT'S NOT MY FAULT! There. I got that done. Now, I actually already have a review! Here we go:**

**Memorysmile: Thank you for the support! Um...yeeeaaaahh...about that...you sure you're so excited to see? *nervous laugh* Don't kill me...yes, it's perfect!**

Chapter 16: Struggling

Lavi leans against the sun-heated stone of the wall, enjoying the warmth. He stares upwards at the clear blue sky and thinks. Lately, the calm and happy demeanor he had been taught to put on, and the indifferent heart he had worked so hard to keep up have failed him. Lavi has let emotions rule him and get in the way of diligent recording. His grandfather taught him his whole life to stay detached from the world and gather information while pretending to be a part of society. Lavi doesn't quite know why, his grandfather's own reasons, but that's what he has been taught since he was tiny. And now, that's all gone. The overbearing personality of his grandpa, the endless rules and teaching, the things Lavi had despised, are gone now. But now he is wishing they were here. His heart has returned in full force, subjecting him to emotions he doesn't know if he likes or not. Love seems to be one of them, and confusion, and anxiety, and depression, anger…there's so many, and Lavi can't handle it.

Lavi had spaced out while thinking on this, and when he snaps from his reverie (or maybe nap), a couple hours have passed. Lavi stands stiffly and stretches. "Damn," he mutters. "Yuu's gonna be mad that I missed breakfast." The redhead walks slowly back to the house, arms crossed behind his head in a carefree way. He walks calmly into the house and is met with perfect silence. This strikes Lavi as odd, and he explores. Kanda has fallen asleep on the couch in the living room, and Lenalee is also asleep, but in her room. Lavi closes the curtains to darken her room and closes the door behind him when he leaves. Allen, however, is nowhere to be found. Getting increasingly worried, Lavi searches harder, knowing that Allen can fit himself into very small spaces if he wants. But Lavi still can't find the albino. Glancing once at Kanda and wondering if he should wake him before dismissing the thought, Lavi leaves the house again. The back door is ajar.

oOo

Allen curls into himself, sitting in the farthest corner of the wall from the house as possible. He clutches his head and whimpers softly. His voice has returned a tiny bit after trying to scream for the past few minutes. His mind is in shambles, all the different feelings and people in there mixing around and hurting. Hurting so badly…Allen shoves at the personalities in his mind, trying to get them to go away. Red laughs at his attempts and Neah chuckles bitterly.

"No, Allen. Don't. We're part of you, stop trying to get rid of us. Just accept us, and you'll be fine." Allen screams at him silently, yelling his denial.

"You're not me! You'll never be me! GO AWAY!" In response, Neah prods at Allen's crumbling mental barriers, making them collapse further. Crown Clown joins in.

"Just let us in. Otherwise we're gonna have to erase you totally." Allen stubbornly refuses, rebuilding his walls and pushing them back. Then, he screams, voice returning all at once as he sees what the other personalities have done. And from the deepest reaches of his mind, a small voice laughs.

_"I'm…free."_

oOo

Briskly walking around the land around the house and calling for Allen, Lavi is starting to panic. Where is he? Did he run away? Lavi is just about to go wake Kanda and Lenalee to get their help when a scream pierces the warm laziness of the air. Lavi flinches and swears, suddenly terrified. He runs towards the sound, arriving in a short time at the wall, where he finds Allen laying on the ground. He is laying in such a way that Lavi can tell he had been clutching his head when he fell, and he's unconscious. Lavi forces himself to help instead of backing away, his instincts screaming at him to run. Hoisting the kid onto his back, Lavi starts towards the house. He doesn't know exactly why Allen is unconscious way out here, but he has his suspicions. For a – very – brief moment, Lavi considers dumping the kid outside of the wall just in case, but he shakes off that idea, horrified at himself. About halfway to the house, the teen on his back stirs.

"L…Lavi?" Allen's voice murmurs softly, sounding confused. Lavi puts Allen down and smiles at him.

"Oh good, you're okay! I was worried when I found you passed out over…there…Allen?" Lavi trails off, concern and fright leaking into his voice as a feral grin spreads over Allen's face.

"Nope, not Allen," Destroyer of Time hisses. "Me." He lunges forwards, and suddenly Lavi can't find the air to scream.


	17. Runaway

**Alriiiiight! the next chapter! Woohoo! I have the next few chapters all planned out, and this story is coming to an end soon! (OMG!) I am really excited for the end, I think it'll be great!  
**

**jy24: OMG, I love your review! absolutely love it whenever I get nice big reviews like that! You shall see what happened! It shall all be explained! (I hope...) those are some veeerrrrrry interesting theories! Love 'em! We shall see! Yup, I think we all do. Everyone likes Allen! (And if you don't you're crazy! (JK)) Yesssss, totally! Poor Allen! Yup, definitely something they shouldn't do! Thank you again for your awesome review! It makes me so happy to read it!**

**Enjoy the next chapter everybody!**

Chapter 17:Runaway

Lenalee drifts awake slowly, eyes slipping open as she yawns and stretches. Sitting up, Lenalee realizes that someone has closed her curtains for her. She smiles, thankful to whoever had done so. Getting up out of her bed, she stretches again. She walks around the house, noticing to her worry that Lavi still isn't back, and now Allen's gone, too.

"Where could they be…?" she murmurs to herself, checking up on Kanda, who is asleep on the couch. She decides to awaken the raven-haired man, just to ask if he knows where the two other boys have gone. Kanda says he has no idea, and wakes up fully, looking just as worried as Lenalee. He is the one who notices the open back door. Both cautiously sneak out of the house, closing the back door behind them. They start searching the grounds behind the house systematically, calling quietly for their missing friends. They finally find one of them around the front of the house after a while of looking around the property. "Lavi! Lavi, are you ok-" Lenalee calls, running up to the redhead lying prone on the ground. She trails off upon seeing that he's unconscious. Kneeling next to him, she notices the dark bruises on his neck, and calls Kanda over. Kanda helps her carry Lavi into the house, and the two check again outside to see if they can find Allen, but he's nowhere. Extremely uneasy, Lenalee closes all the curtains and blinds while Kanda closes and locks all the windows and doors.

Soon, Lavi awakens, groaning that his head hurts in a raspy voice. Immediately, Lenalee is next to him, asking what happened, where's Allen, is he okay, can she do anything, until Kanda tells her to stop it and go get him some water. Lavi sits up, and gently feels his throat, wincing as he presses on the bruises there. When he has recovered a bit more and drunk some water, Kanda asks the same questions that Lenalee had, but slower, giving Lavi time to think and answer.

"Are you alright? Is Allen?" Kanda asks as Lavi takes a long drink of water. Lavi nods and swallows.

"Yeah, I'm fine now," he rasps. "I…don't know if Allen is. I don't think so." Kanda recoils a little, and Lenalee gasps, covering her mouth.

"What? Why?" Kanda demands, a hard edge to his voice. "What happened?" Lavi swallows painfully, looking away from his friend.

"Well…I think one of his personalities took over. I think it may have been the one from before, Destroyer of Time. I left to go for a walk, like I told you, and I think I fell asleep sitting against the wall. I woke up later and came back to the house and you two were asleep. Allen was gone though, so I went looking for him. I found him unconscious in the furthest corner of the wall, over there." Lavi gestures vaguely towards the back of the property. Then he continues. "He was unconscious, so I picked him up and started to carry him back to the house. I got maybe halfway there when he woke up. But it wasn't Allen, it was a different personality. He choked me till I passed out, and I didn't wake up until just a bit ago, in the house." Lenalee exchanges worried glances with Kanda, and Lavi frowns. "You don't know where he is either, do you?" he asks in a gravelly voice, concern coloring his tone. Lenalee shakes her head.

"He isn't in the house, and we didn't see him outside…" She stops there, glancing at Kanda. Kanda seems to be thinking hard.

"Where could he have gone? Where _would_ he have gone?" None out of the three have the answer to that, and silence falls. Lenalee feels tears gather in her eyes and spill over. Lavi starts, eyes wide and confused, concerned, and he leans forwards.

"Lena! Are you alright? What's wrong?" he asks quickly, feeling guilty. Is she crying because of him? Lenalee smile at him, wiping the tears away.

"I-I'm fine, Lavi. Thank you for asking though. I was just thinking…we just found Allen again after we all thought he was dead, and now…now he's gone again!" The small smile disappears and she starts crying in earnest, sobbing with her face in her hands, tears dripping through her fingers. Lavi sits next to her on the floor and wraps her arms around her.

"It'll be okay, Lena. I promise. We'll find Allen, and get him back to normal." He continues to murmur reassurances and hug her while she cries, trying to calm her down and make her feel better. Meanwhile, Kanda stares blankly at the wall. The calm expression on his face turns to major annoyance and he clenches his fists in his lap.

"Fucking beansprout…" he mutters harshly. That idiot has been nothing but trouble ever since they met him. And yet, where usually Kanda's demeanor towards such an annoying person would be frigid, spiteful, this boy has managed to gain Kanda's trust. He has managed to get past Kanda's defenses, and Kanda doesn't know what to think about that. Finally deciding, Kanda stands and grabs Mugen from the floor next to where he had been sitting. He walks to the front door and walks out. Lavi calls to him from inside the house as he walks away.

"Hey, Yuu! Where are you going? What are you doing?" Kanda turns his head halfway, tossing a cold glare over his shoulder. "I'm getting Allen back, no matter what it takes. Stay there with Lenalee, and I'll be back with Allen." Lavi watches Kanda leave until the door slams shut and blocks his view. Still holding Lenalee, Lavi can only shake his head at the departed man and think how he's been through almost this same situation before.

oOo

Kanda walks at a brisk pace, knowing where he will look first. The gate at the front of the property is hanging wide open, and Kanda makes a beeline for that. He walks out, closing and locking it behind him. Slowing his pace a little, Kanda looks around warily and breathes quietly. Stepping deliberately and staying as quiet as possible, Kanda keeps his eyes open and alert, and his hand ready at his katana. Who knows, that lunatic might be hiding in wait. After a bit of total normalcy and not a single strange occurrence, Kanda loosens up a little and starts jogging. One hand is still resting on Mugen, but he's no longer trying to be silent. He's just running, eyes focused on the road before him and the forest around him, determined to find Allen and get him back.

oOo

Allen sits against a tree, head tilted back, staring blankly at the perfect blue sky above him through the webbing of branches. He didn't want to have to hurt Lavi, but he couldn't let the older teen take him back to the house. He couldn't face his friends, not like this. So he had pretended to be someone else, someone they wouldn't want to go after. Someone even they couldn't ever like. Allen sighs and lifts his deformed left hand in front of his face, scrutinizing the bright red flesh as he has done so many times before. These people, these final few people left in this city, this world, had accepted him so readily. They had done what no one else had ever done aside from Mana, despite his scar, his odd appearance, and his disgusting left arm. And what had he done in return? Nothing. He hadn't given them anything worthwhile to repay them, only causing them trouble. Allen lets his hand fall, glad that there aren't others' voices in his head commenting on the pity party he's having currently. They are all gone. He finally accepted them, let all of them in at once, and now they are all gone. They are all part of him now. He's a little bit untrusting and rude, a little bit of a warrior, a little bit of a diplomat, and a large bit mean now, and angry. He is also a lot childish and happy, and quite a bit insane. All these different facets of his personality, mixed up into one person. Allen bites his lip.

"I'm…" he whispers, before stopping and continuing the thought silently in his head. _'I'm just a bizarre, broken human machine. They screwed me up and left me in that place to die. It's better if I just stay away from people. And after what I did back there to Lavi… No one…would ever come looking for me. It's better if they don't.' _Allen swallows. "Only an idiot would come looking for such a monster."

Allen screams in fright and leaps away from the sound, scrabbling away in the dirt and pine needles as someone speaks from behind him.

"Are you calling me an idiot?" Allen gasps for air and stares in absolute shock at Kanda, who is leaning against the other side of the tree from where Allen had been sitting.

"H-How long have you been there?!" Allen yelps, nervous and slightly annoyed. Kanda scoffs.

"Long enough to get the gist of your little pity-party. Listen." Kanda steps around the tree and closer to Allen, kneeling down so his face is right in front of Allen's. "None. Of us care that you have – had – different personalities. We all like you no matter what. Hurry up and get up. Lenalee and Lavi are worrying themselves sick over you." Allen sits right where he is, staring at Kanda with tears gathering in his eyes.

"B-But I'm…I might be bad! What if I turn out crazy or something and hurt you all?" Kanda rolls his eyes.

"You're already crazy, sprout. Crazy to think that we're just gonna leave you like nothing after all the shit we've been through together. And if you do turn out bad, we'll just get you back. Now get up. We need to get back to the others." Allen smiles and nods, but doesn't move. Instead, he starts blubbering, muttering a small sorry with his happy tears. Kanda sighs and picks the kid up. He starts walking back to the house with Allen on his back, and doesn't put him down even when Allen protests that he can walk just fine now. Eventually, Allen falls asleep with his cheek on Kanda's shoulder. Kanda just smiles and keeps walking. _'This little idiot. This naïve, little idiot,' _he thinks to himself, shaking his head. _'This naïve, lovable little idiot.'_

**And there we go! Not even a cliffhanger! I have decided that this story is gonna be Yullen and Lavalee. (Lavi x Lenalee) It is decided. Well, till next chapter! See you!  
**


	18. Family, Together

**Heyyy everyone! I _finally _finished the chapter! I just couldn't decide how to get the story to where I wanted it...but then I did! Woot woot! Hmm, I don't think any one commented...and if you did, I'm sorry I missed you! I am so excited for what's coming up! Kyaaa! But I shouldn't spoil anything! Aww, but...this story's gonna end soon, too...darn. Oh well, I guess that means I'll get more time to work on my truckload of other plot bunnies hiding in my closet! (Or on my phone, I guess.) Welp, enjoy this chapter!**

Chapter 18: Family, Together

"Allen! Kanda! Are you two okay?!" Lenalee runs to greet the two returning boys, smiling happily and sniffing back tears. Allen apologizes profusely when Kanda sets him down, awkwardly patting her back as she crushes him in a hug. Lavi comes out of the house too, and assures Allen that all is well and he's forgiven.

Kanda closes and locks the gate and the four go back inside, opening all the curtains again. Allen helps Lenalee tend to Lavi's bruises, and Kanda watches them all with feigned disinterest from his position leaning against the wall. After Lavi is all taken care of, Allen insists on helping make food for everyone, since they're all starving. Kanda gives him the task of stirring the pot of soup, something that's not easy to mess up. Allen pouts at this, knowing exactly why he was given such an easy job. _'I'm a klutz,' _he thinks sourly, bemoaning his lack of coordination. He waits for a second, expecting a snarky response from someone in his head, before realizing again that they're all gone and he doesn't have to. Smiling, Allen sets himself to his task happily, energy restored by his realization. After it's all prepared and served, the teens all enjoy a meal together, happy to just be together at last, with no imminent danger to separate or worry them.

Weeks, and then months pass, and the four manage to keep up a small garden with packets of seeds they had found. Now with fresh vegetables, and usually fresh game from the forest around, the group really is eating well. They are all content and happy, although they do get a little awkward sometimes when the relationships clearly forming get a little too apparent in 'public'. For instance, Lavi and Lenalee getting a bit _too_ intimate while Lavi is braiding Lenalee's hair. Allen and Kanda had to leave the room because they didn't want to watch the canoodling.

Other times, it would be Lenalee and Lavi having to leave the room out of courtesy to Allen and Kanda. Really, it's getting pretty awkward in this house. And although they are still all friends, they seem to be drifting apart slowly, becoming more and more distant as the more serious relationships progress. Lenalee notices this, and decides: She is going to get everyone to do some team building exercises. It's about time they all had some excitement again. A couple weeks later, Lenalee has formed a plan.

oOo

Lenalee skips into Allen's room and throws open the curtains. When Allen groans and complains, Lenalee turns around with a beatific smile plastered on her face and tells him to get up.

"We're actually going to do something today. Be ready soon or you're missing breakfast." Allen looks horrified, and leaps from bed like there are spiders in his sheets. Lenalee heads to Kanda's room next. She gives him the exact same treatment. He knows not to mess with her, so she gets away with it. Lavi doesn't pay attention to her and tries to go back to sleep, so he gets dragged out of bed. Lenalee waits patiently for the three boys to stumble into the kitchen in various states of grogginess, their breakfasts set out on the table. Once they're done, Lenalee tells them to get their weapons. There is a long silence and then Allen takes a chance, raising his hand like he's in school.

"Uh, Lenalee? Why?" Lenalee grins and holds up her pistol.

"We're gonna go kill some Zombies. Gotta practice, right?" The three boys exchange glances, but then they shrug, get up and prepare. Soon, they are ready to leave. They trek to the city, and Lenalee starts getting excited. Probably a bit too excited for killing undead corpses. "I have been _so _bored lately! Finally, some action!" she exclaims loudly. Kanda shushes her, and she raises an eyebrow. "What? I wanna kill Zombies! Let 'em come!" Lavi, meanwhile, pouts.

"How can you say you were bored…? I thought it was fun…" Allen cheers up the redhead and then turns to Lenalee.

"Well, I'm ready for some action right about now. Can I do something really loud?" Lenalee nods, so Allen counts to three, and they scream 'come and get us' as loud as possible together to attract Zombies. Lavi and Kanda cringe, and Allen and Lenalee grin at each other. They can already hear the groans of Zombies who heard. Lavi sighs.

"You two are both crazy." Allen raises an eyebrow at him, smiling ironically.

"No shit, Sherlock," he says teasingly, and Lavi grimaces. Just then, the first Zombies round the corner of the street they're standing in. Lenalee aims and fires immediately, taking them out. Allen hesitates slightly, staring at the knives in his hands, but then sighs and smiles. He looks up with determination sparkling in his eyes and attacks Zombies entering the other end of the street.

Soon, Lavi and Kanda join in, finding it exhilarating to experience the familiar rush of adrenaline associated with killing the undead. After a while, the flow of Zombies trickles to a halt. The group moves into the city a bit more, and Allen and Lenalee prepare to yell again. A scream echoes through the streets of the city, but Lenalee and Allen look at each other in confusion and shock. Although that scream definitely came from a human mouth, no one in their little group had made a sound.

**Oooo, cliffie! (As usual. I think that cliffhangers are pretty much the norm for me.) XD**

**I hope you guys like how this story is going! Once again, it's gonna end soon. But don't worry! It'll be happy...I hope. *grins* But there will still be a few chapters until then. Also, I think this chapter might have been kinda short. Sorry about that! **

**Anyhoo, see you later! Ba-bye!**


	19. Search

**LOOK! (A wild CHAPTER appeared!) Wow! (Kittyluv2000 has successfully captured the CHAPTER!)  
Ha...ha...yup, I finally finished the next chapter. Turns out being able to access this story on my phone _was_ a good idea! I actually wrote it! Agh, this story is almost over...what will I ever _do_ with my life after it's over? ...Maybe work on keeping up other stories and not cliffhanging you all so much...nope! Muahahaha! Anyhoo, thanks very much to all who reviewed favorited and followed!**

**Tsukiko K: Haha, so sorry! It _was _just getting good, wasn't it? Well, I promise this chapter will be good as well! I enjoyed tying the plot up some more. XD  
**

**jy24: You don't sound very enthusiastic about it...? Are you tired of my plot twists already? Well, they're not over yet! Haha! *evil chuckling* I'm glad you're enjoying it! Mmhm, I hope he'll be useful! Of course, I don't think the cure will work on anyone except the very recently Infected. They're not rotten yet. :/**

**Enjoy the chapter! (:**

Chapter 19: Search

Suddenly, silence is priority. There is another Survivor somewhere nearby, and they seem to be in trouble. So the four teens all know without having to speak or even look at each other that silence is needed, and that they are going to find that Survivor. Prowling silently, the four find a ladder to a fire escape, and they scale it as quietly as possible. Once at the highest point they can get to by using the fire escape, they look around. A lot of buildings still obstruct their view, so they scale the wall to the roof using the crumbling bricks to form hand- and footholds. Once there, they can see pretty clearly all the streets in the vicinity. They soon spy a horde of Zombies heading towards one street in particular.

"That would be the source of the sound," Lavi states. Kanda rolls his eyes and Lenalee smiles at him sarcastically.

"Thanks, Lavi. I think we all knew that, though." Lavi pouts.

"I like nice, calm Lenalee better…" he complains under his breath. But his friends still hear, even over the sound of the wind and the echoing groans of Infected.

"I like this Lenalee better," Allen says, grinning at Lavi. "I was kind of missing her. She's badass." Lenalee laughs, and she laughs even harder when Kanda grunts his agreement. Then, the scream from before echoes again, sounding even more panicked, and the mood turns serious again. "Let's go." Allen says firmly. They can't cross the large street by roof-hopping, so they go back down to the ground and sneak across. They know that they can get to the target street from behind, so they head to the next street over to get to it. There are a few milling Zombies, but Kanda gets rid of those within seconds. Upon making it to the street they were aiming for, they stop to get a plan together. Just throwing themselves into the fray will get them killed by the huge mob of Infected trying to get to the Survivor, who is stranded on a broken and rickety outdoor staircase. The group of four gets into their usual formation, one in front and two on either side, with another protecting the back. Lenalee, in the front, starts shooting into the crowd of Zombies. She still has great aim, although it has deteriorated somewhat from disuse of her skills. Kanda and Lavi flank her, killing Zombies that approach from the side. Allen kills Zombies that come from behind, attracted by the loud gunfire. Together, the four take out a lot of Zombies, until they have cleared enough of a path for someone to get to the woman clinging to the wobbling staircase's railing. Allen takes this path, and the three others shrink their circle to continue killing Infected. Allen runs quickly through the horde and goes to protect the Survivor. He hands her one of his knives.

"Stab them in the head." The woman seems very unsure of herself.

"I-I don't know h-how!" Allen smiles kindly at her,

"You just kill them. It's easier now because they don't even look very human anymore." He turns around and kills a few Zombies that aren't being attracted by his three comrades. Then, he starts attacking the back of the group surrounding his friends. The woman starts weakly jabbing at Zombies, looking terrified. Allen shakes his head and takes her hand with the knife in it.

"Let me, please," he says before taking the knife back from her. Soon, the Zombies are all killed, and none more seem to be coming. Lenalee helps the woman down from her unsafe perch just out of the Zombies' reach, and asks her name.

"M-My name is M-Miranda…I'm sorry for c-causing you trouble! I-I was going to meet my friends, but I got lost…" There is a long shocked silence, and Miranda freaks out. "Agh! I'm sorry! I said something wrong didn't I?" she cries. Allen stops her with a hand on her shoulder.

"No, no, it's fine. It's just…you said…your friends?" Miranda nods and wipes tears from her eyes, sniffling.

"Yes…I'm rather useless and klutzy, you see, so they left me outside the city so I would be safe. Then they radioed me and said they needed my help, so I tried to get to them…" Lenalee is getting visibly more and more excited.

"You mean to say there are more Survivors here?!" Miranda nods quickly, pulling a Walkie-Talkie from the back pocket of her jeans.

"Y-You can r-radio them, I guess," she offers, holding out the Walkie-Talkie. Lavi takes it and presses down on the transmitting button.

"Hello?" he asks, unsure whether or not he'll get an answer. Letting go of the button, he is gratified to hear a response.

"Miranda? Who is that? Are you alright? We're coming right now!" Lavi grins at his friends, and they smile back, excited. Allen looks slightly apprehensive though, and Lavi makes a note to talk to him about that soon.

Within a few minutes, a group of three rounds the corner, all in defensive stances, weapons in hand. One seems to be blind, bandages on his eyes. He is holding wire wrapped around and then taped to short wooden poles, pulling it taut. Kanda freezes, staring at him with shock plain on his face.

"…Marie?" he mutters quietly, and then again, louder. "Marie, is that you?" The bald man looks towards the sound of Kanda's voice, gasping softly.

"Yuu?" Kanda's eye twitches slightly at the usage of his first name, but he ignores it for the moment in favor of walking over to Marie and giving him a slightly stiff, awkward hug. From their ensuing conversation, Kanda's comrades gather that the two are brothers. Allen looks very pleased that Kanda has found at least one member of his family. His attention is drawn away from Kanda by another voice asking,

"Allen? You're alive?" Allen's head snaps around to look at the speaker, eyes wide.

"Krory?!" he gasps, and Miranda looks over, too.

"Wait, Allen? I didn't think it was…you can…I d-didn't recognize you because you're t-talking! And you're wearing a hat!" she exclaims happily. Allen laughs, taking off the baseball cap and gladly receiving the hugs from both other Survivors. Allen introduces them to his friends.

"This is Miranda and Krory. I know them from the hospital." Miranda is crying happily, apologizing for her tears between hiccupping sobs. Allen reassures her that it's alright. Krory, meanwhile, grins at Allen, looking partially welcoming and partially terrifying. He's got unusually long, sharp canines. Allen gives him a big, happy smile, still patting Miranda on the back comfortingly. Lenalee watches her friends with a small, slightly sad smile. What she wouldn't give to be hugging Komui again right now…

Lavi pats a hand on her shoulder, giving her a look of understanding. He smiles softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her a bit closer. She rests her head on his shoulder, a couple tears sliding down her cheeks and making little dark spots on his shirt. What she wouldn't give to live life like she had before…

Lenalee stands up abruptly, thanking Lavi, stepping away a bit and wiping her face. There's no use thinking like that. That will only make her depressed. Squaring her shoulders and composing herself, Lenalee adopts her usual determined look and smirks slightly. She will never let herself give up again, like she had at first. She will never be that pathetic, crying girl in a corner, clutching a sweater that smells like home and waiting helplessly, hopelessly, for death. That's not Lenalee. Not anymore.

After a bit longer, the reunions are finished, and all of them find a safer place to talk. Sitting together on a rooftop with some shade cast by the roof access door, the group talk amongst each other about what has happened since separation up until now. There are certainly some crazy tales to be told. Allen seems a bit distracted the whole time, seeming to think over something whenever he falls silent, and speaking absentmindedly. Finally, he excuses himself and wanders away, telling his friends that he's just going for a walk. He'll be careful, of course.

.oOo.

Allen climbs down to street level, using crumbling mortar and bricks as he had taught his friends to do earlier. He glances back when his feet are on the ground, making sure no one is following him. Something had occurred to him when they had gone back into the city, something he has decided to confront. As he walks through the streets, occasionally running into and killing Zombies, Allen mulls over what he's doing. Maybe his plan is stupid...in fact, it's almost certainly stupid. However, he knows it must be done. Otherwise, more incidents like with Tyki and the other two will happen.

Trudging through the city, Allen looks around. Perhaps once upon a time, these unfamiliar streets were places he knew, places he liked. But now, time and this plague have transformed them. He no longer recognizes this city. He does still remember, however, where he had met the members of that gang. They had said he was 'in their territory', therefore they could do to him what they liked. Mana had stopped them before they did too much, but Allen hadn't heard much of the conversation - which turned into a short brawl - through the haze of pain and shock. Now, Allen walks back to where he had run into them, a determined look on his face. He grips his knives tight and calls out, knowing they will hear him. Knowing they already know he's here.

"Come out and face me. I want to settle our score." He works hard not to flinch at a voice that responds right behind him. A woman's voice, haughty and unimpressed.

"Be quiet, will you? There are Zombies around here." Allen turns to face her, giving a small nod and a smirk as an apology. The woman has long, black hair tied in a tight ponytail, surprisingly crisp and clean clothing, and frigid amber eyes. She is holding a machete in one hand, staring at him and tapping her long nails against her leg impatiently with her other hand. "So? What do you want? What do you have to offer so I won't kill you here and now, you murdering bastard?" Allen stares at her levelly for a moment before responding,

"Exactly what I said. I know you heard me. I want to settle the score between myself and the leader of this gang. Therefore, I'd like to talk to him." The woman bares her teeth in an angry snarl. A low hiss escapes from her throat like a cat, and her free hand clenches into a claw. Allen keeps this thought to himself, but he remarks internally that this woman isn't quite sane anymore. She calms quickly and composes herself, giving Allen's weapons a meaningful look before stating a cold,

"Follow me, then. But should you try anything…" She glares back at him, lifting the machete to prove her point. Allen nods and sheathes his own weapons. He can get them out very quickly if needed. Following the woman, Allen introduces himself.

"My name is Allen. Allen W-" He is cut off by the woman's voice, full of annoyance.

"I know. Now shut up." Allen sighs, falling silent again. This silence lasts for a while before the woman stops and turns around. "I need to blindfold you here." She pulls a length of black cloth from a pocket in her pants and steps closer. Allen swallows nervously and stiffens. She ties the cloth over his eyes, stepping behind him and guiding him with a hand on each shoulder. Pushing gently to get him to start walking, the woman leads Allen through a long maze of twists and turns, getting the whitette thoroughly lost. Finally, she lets go of his shoulders and tells him to wait, to stand perfectly still. "There are no Zombies. You're just being collected and brought to the Earl." Allen nods, assuming the Earl is the leader of the gang. After what feels like forever, a large hand grabs Allen's shoulder and starts roughly guiding him further. Allen stumbles multiple times, and each time, a man growls threats at him in annoyance. At last, Allen is told gruffly to stop, and the blindfold is yanked off his head none too gently. Allen rubs his head where the cloth had chafed his skin, both during his walk and when taken off, before looking up. The Earl sits before him, wearing a grungy trench coat and a strange mask. It's some sort of Halloween mask, a goblin or something. He's also sporting a top hat. It's a very strange outfit, and Allen can't help but frown at the mask. The Earl chuckles, and when he speaks his voice is a warm, friendly one, albeit a bit muffled and distorted due to the mask. Allen notices something odd about that voice, but he can't quite put his finger on it. He frowns, but forgets all about the small anomaly when the Earl next speaks.

"Welcome, Allen Walker. I am the Earl, the leader of this family we have here. You've caused us quite a bit of grief." Allen nods, not apologizing. Those people he and his friends killed attacked first. And in this situation, the apocalypse, it's kill or be killed. The Earl chuckles again, sighing afterwards and gesturing to the chair Allen us standing next to. "Well, sit down. We have much to talk about, and it would be rude of me to keep you standing." Allen sits, not taking his eyes off the masked man before him. Said man leans forwards after dismissing whomever had brought Allen here. "I will gladly barter with you to 'settle the score', as you put it. I will offer you a deal once you explain what you would like, and we shall barter til the both of us are content." Allen nods, agreeing silently. The Earl leans back again and gestures to Allen to begin. "Go on, then. Tell me what exactly you came to see me for." Allen swallows and fidgets a bit before taking a deep breath and starting to talk.

"I know for a fact that members of your 'family' are holding grudges against myself and my friends. I would like…immunity, for me and all of my friends, from your gang." The earl is quiet for a bit, mulling over what Allen has just said. Then, he nods slowly.

"Alright. That is a rather large thing to ask. Though you and your friends have killed some of the members of my family, there are still quite a few left, and most all of them are holding quite the grudge. It will be difficult to keep them from striking out. But, I am willing to give you a good deal. In fact, I will ask far less of you than I usually would." The man reaches up with one hand and takes off his top hat. He pulls off the mask, and suddenly Allen can't get himself to move, let alone respond to the Earl's next words. "You see, I'm quite fond of you, my dear Allen." the Earl says in a voice Allen knows so well now that the mask is off.

**Oooooh, more cliffies! I'm starting to think we're all hearing this story while wandering around our own apocalypse! The ground must be very cracked, since we keep falling off cliffs.  
I promise the next chapter will be out soon! It may actually be the LAST chapter! D8 Until next time, please review and I'll get writing stories right away!**


	20. Renewal

**We did it. Holy crow, we did it. This is the final chapter, everyone! There will be very small epilogue as well, but this is it. Thank you all SO MUCH for sticking with me through my huge freakin' hiatuses, and showing such support towards this story! It's my longest one ever! And now it's finally finished...and I've deleted a bunch of old stories I dislike...and I will start posting new stories! Ones that aren't all D. Gray-Man! (Whoooaaa! Kitty has character development!)**

**Voltron Chair (Guest): Thank you, Chair. Much appreciated. (-_-) I didn't think you would follow through on your threat to post comments as random Legend of Voltron props, my friend. Touché. **

**Carys (Guest): I would NEVER ditch this story! I just...take really, really long hiatuses...IMSOSORRY**

**jy24: Ding ding ding! You guessed correctly! And your prize is: Probably feeling very unfulfilled because this is the last chapter...imsosorryagain Did I say there were three? Perhaps in my mind I counted Miranda as well...I really can't remember...oops. **

Chapter 20: Renewal

Allen stares at the man before him, eyes wide and searching, breaths coming faster than they should be. When he finally manages to speak, all he can get out is one word. A name.

"Mana?" he gasps breathlessly, disbelief plain in his tone. Mana, whom Allen had thought _dead _for so long, smiles softly. He looks almost the same as the last time Allen had seen him, just a bit older.

"Yes, Allen. It's me. I didn't die, but I did have to flee afterwards to avoid Crown Clown. I'm so proud of you. You've come so far. I'm just sad that you had to go through so many terrible things to come this far." Allen stares incredulously at his old caretaker, confusion in his eyes.

"But you…you…" He trails off, breathing irregular again. Mana smiles sadly.

"You must be so confused, I'm sorry. I'll explain. I'm immune, like you, so I never would have become Infected. Crown Clown failed to kill me, as well. It was certainly a close one, but I survived. And as for Tyki and the others attacking you, I have already said that it is very difficult for me to keep them under control. I apologize for that, and for not contacting you sooner. That wound Crown Clown gave me didn't heal very well, so I find it hard to exert myself for very long. Travelling across the city wouldn't end very well for me." Allen nods slowly, reality slowly sinking in. He starts laughing, partially out of shock and partially because he's ecstatic to see Mana again. The fit eventually stops, leaving Allen to start crying instead. He doesn't know what these tears are from.

Allen finally manages to stop crying, calming down and deciding to finish the deal he had started to make.

"So…what do you want in return, then?" He asks softly. There is a short silence, and Mana replies,

"I want your blood. It would be dangerous for me to give blood, but I want to try find out how we're immune. And if I can, I would like to try create a vaccine of sorts." Allen nods before asking how Mana knows he's immune. Mana looks uneasy for a moment, and then answers.

"We sent Lala to verify, and sent another member to watch. We knew she was Infected, and instructed her to try Infect you however possible. She was _supposed _to get blood into your mouth, not Turn, but she had less time than anticipated. It wasn't the most _moral _of plans, nor the smartest, but I was desperate. I had to find out before you disappeared with those new friends of yours." Allen is silent for a long while, mulling over this. When he looks back to Mana, his eyes are colder than before.

"I agree to your deal. I will let you take some of my blood for your _research_, and you will grant me, and _all _of my friends, immunity from your 'family'." Mana looks ashamed at his previous actions, and sad at Allen's new attitude towards him. He nods, standing stiffly and leading Allen deeper into wherever this place is. When they arrive at their destination, the woman from before is waiting with equipment from some hospital. She prepares Allen and the equipment, getting immediately to work taking blood. Allen can't help but flinch a little at the needle. He does _not _like needles. Looking away to avoid getting sick, Allen waits for the procedure to be over with. His head snaps back around when he feels a second needle in his arm seconds after the first is removed.

"Hey! What-?!" Allen starts to ask, but stops as he starts to feel woozy. Staring at Mana with a look of shock and betrayal, he passes out as the drug takes effect.

.oOo.

Allen reawakens at the base of the building he had left his friends on. They're crowded around him, concerned and slightly panicky. Allen sits up, crying out as pain flares in his back by his left shoulder blade. He instinctively claps his right hand to that shoulder, feeling bandages beneath the fabric of his shirt.

"What…?" he starts, confused. Lenalee shakes her head, helping him stand.

"I don't know, Allen. You just disappeared, and after a while a random woman came and dropped you off here. You were unconscious. She said she'd be visiting us later…at the _house._" Allen realizes what it must be, and starts to unbutton his shirt to look at whatever wound is beneath the bandages. Unwrapping them, he sees a new burn mark. A _brand_. He hisses in pain and surprise as he stares at it, explaining quietly to his friends as he rewraps the bandages.

"That brand is the symbol of the gang Tyki and them belonged to. It shows I'm immune to any revenge members of that gang may want. The woman is going to come back later to give it to all of you as well. You're all immune." Lenalee looks extremely confused, and Lavi looks just as perplexed. Kanda has gone straight to furious.

"What the _fuck, _beansprout?! What did you do?!" he growls, fingers tight on Allen's right shoulder. Allen gives him a small, slightly guilty smile.

"I made a deal. Don't worry, it was nothing big. It's already done. But we should all get to the house so she won't be kept waiting." Allen starts to walk away, brushing off Kanda's hand. After a bit of debating and some choice words from Kanda, everyone else follows Allen's lead. When they arrive, the woman is already standing at the gate.

"Took you long enough," she states in an irritable tone. "Let's go. Now. I have better things to do." Everyone follows her warily into the house after Allen unlocks the gates and lets them all in. She produces a brand with the same mark as on Allen's back, and shoves it in the fireplace after making a fire. "Decide where you want it to be. If you want, I have sedative. Allen nods at that part, encouraging the sedative. If the burn hurts this much now, _getting _it must be hell.

A few hours later, everyone has woken back up, and are all complaining in some way about how it hurts. Allen greets everyone with a flustered, somewhat guilty manner. The Survivors they had met that day are only _sort of _thankful for the immunity. After all, had they not met the group of four, they never would have been on the gang's radar. But they're certainly glad they met their old friends again. They leave soon for their own base, telling the other group where it is before departing. The silence afterwards is stifling, the loneliness even more pronounced. And then Kanda breaks it by getting angry. He turns to Allen, apparently having just remembered what Allen said he had done.

"Hey. Beansprout. What exactly _was _the deal you made?" he asks frigidly, grabbing Allen's collar to prevent the boy from escaping. Allen stares blankly at Kanda, not letting anything show on his face. Kanda leans closer, repeating the question furiously. Lenalee comes to streams next to Kanda, not being nearly as physical, but managing to be scary all the same.

"Allen, tell us _now. _What did you do?" Lavi adds on a totally arbitrary,

"Yeah," and Allen finally relents.

"Fine, fine! Even though I already _told_ you it was actually nothing…" He glances around. The looks on his friends' faces show _very _clearly that they do _not _believe him. Allen sighs. He vaguely explains what had happened during the entirety of his trip, omitting nothing. By the end, Kanda is giving him a spectacular glare, Lavi is staring at him incredulously, and Lenalee has walked away to try come to terms with this information. All of them agree that Allen had been an idiot. Again. Allen laughs it off, reassuring them that he's _fine_. Plus, now they're all safe from the gang. Kanda stands up huffily and stalks to the sliding doors, staring out moodily. Allen has a feeling that at least part of his attitude at the moment is pain-induced, if not all of it. Allen stands and slowly walks to stand next to Kanda, feeling gratified when the man allows him to take his hand. Allen sighs.

"The Infected…the Zombies…they're already rotting quite a bit." Allen's voice disturbs the silence, and his words make everyone pay attention. No one says anything, and Allen takes it as a cue to continue. "If we just stay here, eventually…they'll all disappear, right? Maybe then we can relax. Stay here, or find other Survivors. There _have _to be more, we've already encountered some." He smiles at Miranda and Krory. There's a low murmur of agreement from most of the people in the room, and Allen's smile widens. They discuss their plan of action until it's late enough that no one can keep their eyes open without great effort. In the end, it's decided. They will all wait out the Zombies. They won't last long, anyways, what with the rate of decomposition already evident. Maybe a couple years, tops. Surviving that long here? Easy, compared to what they've been through before. The next day, Allen finds himself standing in front of the gates to their base, watching as they're locked with the biggest reinforcements they could get their hands on. Those will hold for a long time. He turns to Kanda and hugs him, and for once, Kanda doesn't complain or try to get away in the least. Allen smiles, feeling peaceful for once in a long time. "We're really doing this, Kanda." he says quietly in mild disbelief. Kanda grunts in agreement.

"We are." He holds Allen a little tighter and cracks a small smile. Allen's eyebrows go up til they're almost lost in his hairline, and Kanda rolls his eyes. Allen laughs and squeezes Kanda's waist.

_He's safe now. _

_They all are. _

_It will be a while, but this horror story will end. _

_The world will be cleansed. _

_And they can all start anew with hope for a better future. _

Allen chuckles at how cheesy he sounds. But it's difficult not to be cheesy when everything has turned out so well. His brand mark still stings, but that will fade. All his scars will, with time. And maybe he'll be able to forget the terrible things he's seen. Smiling, he rests his head on Kanda's chest and shoves with his feet so they're lying on the grass. Kanda doesn't fight back. He just lets Allen lie on top of him and stares up at the sky. They stay like this for what seems like forever lost in their thoughts. Their hopes. Their dreams.


	21. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

It was a simple virus. Not even functioning properly. The scientists who had created it figured that, even if it did begin to function, even if it did infect someone by accident, all it would do would be to make that person hungry until their body defeated it. How wrong they were.

But in time, the world corrected itself, and the virus disappeared. The tiny pockets of humanity reached out and started over. Biohazard Z had devastated the world, but like every time, the world bounced back.

And you know what? Lavi never let Kanda live it down.

_Fin_

**Again, I thank you all SO much for staying with this story through every single twist and turn and hiatus and cliffhanger I stuck you with for over a year...and I apologize for all of that as well. :') I hope this ending is satisfactory, I tried to make it fulfilling, with no loose ends. I literally cannot express in actual words how I feel right now. It's like fangirling. But kinda sad. This story is my longest so far (note how I said 'so far'... (; ), and now it's over. What will I do with my life?! Oh, yeah. WRITE MORE FANFICTION WHOOOOO! See you all later, I'll be posting a bunch of new stories that I think I'll be continuing today. (: **


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